M

See also: Appendix:Variations of "m", М, Μ, Ϻ, and ϻ

M	U+004D, M LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M

← L
[U+004C]

Basic Latin

N →
[U+004E]

Ⅿ	U+216F, Ⅿ ROMAN NUMERAL ONE THOUSAND

← Ⅾ
[U+216E]

Number Forms

ⅰ →
[U+2170]

Ｍ	U+FF2D, Ｍ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M

← Ｌ
[U+FF2C]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

Ｎ →
[U+FF2E]

Translingual

Etymology 1

From the Etruscan letter 𐌌 (m, “em”), from the Ancient Greek letter Μ (M, “my”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤌 (m, “mem”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓈖.

Alternative forms

ꟿ (in ancient inscriptions)

Letter

M (lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Etymology 2

An alteration of ⋈, from ∞, an alteration of ↀ, an alteration of Ⓧ, from encircling X (the roman numeral for ten) to indicate the hundredth ten.

Alternative forms

m, DD, dd, ↀ, Ī, ī, I̅, ⅭⅠↃ

Numeral

M (upper case Roman numeral, lower case m)

(Roman numerals) Thousand (1000)
The thousandth (1,000th).

Symbol

M

Abbreviation of mega-.
(astronomy) Abbreviation of Messier, used in Messier numbers.
(biochemistry) Abbreviation of methionine, as established by IUPAC.
(chemistry) Abbreviation of molar (one mole of substance per litre of solvent).
(mathematical analysis) A generic manifold.
(group theory) monster group
(music) major
(linguistics) mid tone
(astronomy) mass of a reference body as a unit of measure: M_☉ solar mass, M_🜨 terrestrial mass, M_J or M_♃ jovian mass, M_L or M_☾ lunar mass
(usually clothing) medium (the manufactured size)

Usage notes

Because of the potential for confusion, the abbreviation for unit "molar" is usually written in italics (M) or in small caps (ᴍ). M for reference mass is usually written in italics.

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of M, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase M in Fraktur

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛm/

Audio (UK)

(file)

Rhymes: -ɛm

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m, plural Ms or M's)

The thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Number

M (upper case, lower case m)

The ordinal number thirteenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation.

Noun

M (countable and uncountable, plural Ms)

Initialism of mother.
Initialism of male.
Initialism of men. (sign on toilet door)
Coordinate term: W
- 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
  From the Kierkegaard Room he lopingly careened through a red-carpeted hallway that had previously vouchsafed him a comfort station but this morning seemed all business, no M or W in sight, just salons and boutiques and the Ingmar Bergman Cinema.
Initialism of Monday.
Abbreviation of nautical mile.
Initialism of million.
(entomology) Initialism of media.
(usually clothing, singular only) Initialism of medium (the manufactured size or an item of that size).
(US, film) A film with the content rating M.
(slang) Initialism of morphine.
- 1952, Woman's Home Companion (volume 79, page 141)
  [Doctors] always carry narcotic prescription blanks and some M with them. M is morphine.
- 1956, Jess Stearn, Sisters of the Night: The Startling Story of Prostitution in New York Today, New York: Julian Messner, Inc., page 59:
  “Anyway, when he came out of Patsy's room, I grabbed him by the arm and said, ‘Gee whiz, doc, haven't you got a couple of pills for me—even demerol?’ ” / Willie broke off to explain. “That's a synthetic. We call them demmies. If you can't buy H or M, why, demmies will do the trick.”
- 1957, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Viking Press, OCLC 43419454:
  That night Marylou took everything in the books; she took tea, goofballs, benny, liquor, and even asked Old Bull for a shot of M, which of course he didn’t give her; he did give her a martini.
- 2009, Larry Harrison, Glimpses of a Floating World (page 142)
  'You were going to get me some M,' she whispered in his ear. […] His friend uses morphine, too.
(cricket, in batting figures) the number of minutes a player spent at the crease
(cricket, in bowling figures) the number of maiden overs bowled
(India, Islam, Internet slang) Initialism of Muslim.

Usage notes

The sense "Muslim" is mostly used by Hindutva netizens primarily towards Islamist supporters and Muslim militants.

Coordinate terms

(gender): F, X
(Indian politics, online slang): H (used by Indian Muslim netizens directed towards Hindus, especially Hindu nationalists)

Noun

M (plural Messrs or MM)

Monsieur
- 1928 May, Paul Morand, “Paris Letter”, in The Dial, volume LXXXIV, number 6, published June 1928, page 508:
  I also advise reading the Merlin of M Jean Prévost, published by the N. R. F., a swift audacious picture of post-war love, treated with the grace of a Crébillon or of a Restif de la Bretonne. I could not recommend too highly the Petite Histoire des Juifs which MM Jean and Jérôme Tharaud have just published with Plon.

Usage notes

The current standard form in French is M., with MM. as the plural.

Alternative forms

M.

Noun

M

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of month.

Proper noun

M

(Michigan, roadway) Michigan.

Adjective

M (not comparable)

(usually clothing) Initialism of medium (of the manufactured size).
Initialism of mature.

Afar

Letter

M

The seventeenth letter in the Afar alphabet.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛm/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

M (plural M'e, diminutive M'etjie)

M

Azerbaijani

Letter

M upper case (lower case m)

The nineteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eme/, [e̞.me̞]

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Basque alphabet, called eme and written in the Latin script.

Central Franconian

Etymology

/m/ is from West Germanic *m.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M

A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

Usage notes

Doubling of M

In the German-based spelling, m is doubled after short vowels except in certain function words and when the letter is followed by another consonant within the word stem.
In the Dutch-based spelling, m is doubled after short vowels if the syllable were otherwise open.

Chinese

Etymology 1

From English menstruation or menstrual cycle.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): em¹

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: em¹
  - Yale: colloquial sounds not defined
  - Cantonese Pinyin: em¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ém¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːm⁵⁵/

Noun

M

(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) menstruation
(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) menstrual cycle
(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) menses; menstrual blood

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 月經 (“menstruation; period”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		月經, 月信, 月事
Mandarin	Beijing	月經, 例假
	Taiwan	月經, 月事, 好朋友, 大姨媽
	Yantai (Muping)	經脈兒
	Jinan	月經, 例假
	Wanrong	月經, 身上
	Xining	例假
	Wuhan	好事
	Singapore	月經, 大姨媽
	Dagudi (Maliba)	月經, 姊妹
	Reshuitang (Longling)	大姨媽
	Mae Salong (Lancang)	月經, 大姨媽
	Mae Sai (Tengchong)	月經
Cantonese	Guangzhou	大姨媽, 姑婆, 例假
Cantonese	Hong Kong	月經, 大姨媽, M
Gan	Lichuan	身上
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	月期
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	月期
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	月期
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	月期
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	月期
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	月期
Jin	Taiyuan	月經
Min Nan	Xiamen	月經
	Quanzhou	月經
	Zhangzhou	月經
	Kaohsiung	月經
	Yilan	月經
	Changhua (Lukang)	月經
	Taichung	月事
	Taichung (Wuqi)	月經
	Tainan	mè-sù, 月經
	Taitung	月經
	Hsinchu	月經
	Penghu (Magong)	月經
	Manila (Hokkien)	月經
	Jieyang	老馬
Wu	Shanghai	月經, 經水 dated, 老朋友, 老鬼三, 大姨媽
	Ningbo	大尿, 月家
	Wenzhou	身上來

Derived terms

M到

M巾

M痛

Verb

M

(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) to menstruate; to have a period

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): em¹

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: em¹
  - Yale: colloquial sounds not defined
  - Cantonese Pinyin: em¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ém¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːm⁵⁵/

Verb

M

(Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) to steal; to take without asking

Etymology 3

From English M, meg (“megabyte”).

Alternative forms

MB

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): mek¹

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: mek¹
  - Yale: mēk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mek⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: még¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɛːk̚⁵/

Noun

M

(computing, informal) megabyte

Related terms

G (“gigabyte”)

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Pinyin): áim
(Zhuyin): ㄞˊ ˙ㄇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): em¹
Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): êm⁵
Wu (Wiktionary): e hhmm (T2)

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: áim
  - Zhuyin: ㄞˊ ˙ㄇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: áim̊
  - Wade–Giles: ai²-m⁵
  - Yale: ái-m
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: airm5
  - Palladius: айм (ajm)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯³⁵ m̩³/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: em¹
  - Yale: colloquial sounds not defined
  - Cantonese Pinyin: em¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ém¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːm⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: êm⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: êm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /em⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: e hhmm (T2)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /e̞³³ ɦm̩⁴⁴/

Note: Often realised as one syllable..

Letter

M

The third letter of the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): mō (mo¹)
(Zhuyin): ㄇㄛ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, common)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: mō
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄛ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mo
  - Wade–Giles: mo¹
  - Yale: mwō
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mho
  - Palladius: мо (mo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mwɔ⁵⁵/

Letter

M

The thirteenth letter used in Pinyin.

Usage notes

《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).
The official pronunciation defined in 《汉语拼音方案》, ㄝㄇ (ê̄m), is not a valid syllable in Pinyin.

Dutch

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛm/
Audio (file)

Letter

M (capital, lowercase m)

The thirteenth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /mo/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /m/
Audio (file)

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The sixteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called mo and written in the Latin script.

Estonian

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called emm and written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called äm or em and written in the Latin script.

Noun

M

Abbreviation of magna cum laude approbatur.
Abbreviation of mies. ("man, male")

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛm/
Audio (Paris) (file)

Letter

M (lowercase m)

the thirteenth letter of the French alphabet, preceded by L and followed by N

German

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔɛm/
Audio (file)

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the German alphabet.

Noun

M f (genitive M, no plural)

(historical, East Germany) Abbreviation of Mark der DDR.
Coordinate term: DM

Declension

Declension of M [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	M
genitive	einer	der	M
dative	einer	der	M
accusative	eine	die	M

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈm]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈɛmː]

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The twenty-first letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called emm and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	M	M-ek
accusative	M-et	M-eket
dative	M-nek	M-eknek
instrumental	M-mel	M-ekkel
causal-final	M-ért	M-ekért
translative	M-mé	M-ekké
terminative	M-ig	M-ekig
essive-formal	M-ként	M-ekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	M-ben	M-ekben
superessive	M-en	M-eken
adessive	M-nél	M-eknél
illative	M-be	M-ekbe
sublative	M-re	M-ekre
allative	M-hez	M-ekhez
elative	M-ből	M-ekből
delative	M-ről	M-ekről
ablative	M-től	M-ektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	M-é	M-eké
non-attributive possessive - plural	M-éi	M-ekéi

Possessive forms of M
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	M-em	M-eim
2nd person sing.	M-ed	M-eid
3rd person sing.	M-e	M-ei
1st person plural	M-ünk	M-eink
2nd person plural	M-etek	M-eitek
3rd person plural	M-ük	M-eik

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛm/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈɛm.me/
- Rhymes: -ɛmme
(phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case m)

The eleventh letter of the Italian alphabet, called emme and written in the Latin script.

Symbol

M

down with
Antonym: W (“up with”)

Japanese

Etymology 1

From the initial letter of English medium.

Noun

M(エム) • (emu)

medium size

Synonyms

中(ちゅう) (chū)

Related terms

L
S

Etymology 2

From the initial letter of English masochism; compare English S&M.

Noun

M(エム) • (emu)

(sexuality, euphemistic) masochism, masochist
(colloquial) submissive personality

Antonyms

S(エス) (esu)

Derived terms

ドM(エム) (do-emu)

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [m]

(file)

Letter

M

M (upper case, lower case m)

The twentieth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script.

Malay

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [ɛm]
(Phoneme) IPA^(key): [m]

Letter

M

The thirteenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /m/, IPA^(key): /ŋ/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The sixteenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛm/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The seventeenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

(International Standard) The seventeenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The eighteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The sixteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called em, me, or mî and written in the Latin script.

Saanich

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /m/, /mʼ/

Letter

M

The twentieth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (lower case m)

The twenty-first letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛm/

Letter

M (capital, lowercase m)

The 14th letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by L and followed by N.

Somali

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /m/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /miːm/

Letter

M upper case (lower case m)

The eighteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, called miim and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The eighteenth letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by L and followed by N.

Spanish

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

the 13th letter of the Spanish alphabet

Turkish

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The sixteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called me and written in the Latin script.

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ məː˨˩], [ʔɛm˧˧ məː˨˩], [məː˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ məː˦˩], [ʔɛm˧˧ məː˦˩], [məː˦˩]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɛ˧˧ məː˨˩], [ʔɛm˧˧ məː˨˩], [məː˨˩]
Phonetic: e mờ, em mờ, mờ

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The fifteenth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called e-mờ, em-mờ, or mờ and written in the Latin script.

Welsh

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA^(key): /ɛm/
- (informal) IPA^(key): /m/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The seventeenth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by Ll and followed by N.

Mutation

M at the beginning of words mutates to F in a soft mutation, but is unchanged by nasal mutation and aspirate mutation, for example with the word merch (“girl, daughter”):

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
merch	ferch	unchanged	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /m/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /mĩ́/

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The fourteenth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called mí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

M (upper case, lower case m)

The thirteenth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.