| 释义 |
▪ I. em|ɛm|
The name of the letter M. In Printing, the square, formerly of the type m, used in typography as the unit for measuring and estimating the amount of printed matter in a line, page, etc. The em of pica is the standard. Also attrib., as em quad, em quadrat, a square quadrat (see also quots. 1927 and 1967). Cf. M 2.
[1683–1824see quadrat 2.] 1793in Stower Printer's Gram. (1808) xvii. 419 That em and en quadrats..be included. 1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. xvii. 419 The ems and ens at the beginnings and ends of the lines not to be reckoned in the width. 1863W. Blades Life & Typogr. W. Caxton II. iv. p. xliii, When a ‘white’ line was wanted under a chapter head or over a colophon, em quadrats were ranged side by side for the purpose. 1864Daily Tel. 3 Oct. [The printers' union] advanced its demands from forty-five cents to sixty cents per thousand ‘ems’. 1871Em quad [see mutton-quad]. 1888Encycl. Brit. s.v. Typography, The width of..pages..is expressed according to the number of ‘ems’, that is of a pica ‘m’—the square of the depth of pica..A page of 24 ems wide is equal to one of 4 inches. 1927R. B. McKerrow Introd. Bibliogr. i. ii. 13 Quads were no doubt usually square spaces, as broad as the height of a line. From the fact that the letter m (or M) used to be cast on a square body, such a square space is called an em-quad. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset ii. 12 Quads and spaces are the separation material used between letters and words. The em quad is the square of a given body size; the en quad is half the square width.
▪ II. em
obs. form of am: see be v.
▪ III. em
var. of eme, Obs., uncle. |