M (letter)
M, m is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the thirteenth letter of most variants, being placed after L and before N, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈem], em, as in em dash (—).
M is also the Roman numeral representing the number 1000.
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common misspellings |
m is a hum, pronounced with the lips and voice, typical of infants: mmmm! Màmà! Examples (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings): múmmy, mòther, míx, mâke, mòuse rat, moûsse dessert = moôse elk.
It is only doubled in the middle of words, to keep the preceding vowel short: súmmer, slímmer, slímmed, slímming (cf. slím), dilémma, dúmmy, múmmy, lémming, accómmodate.
It begins consonant clusters: émber, ámbling, ámbry, amnêsty, émpty, Húmphrey, ámple, impréss.
And it likes to add a silent b at the end of some words: thúmb, lámb, cômb, númb, dúmb, tomb (*toôm). But not usually: slím, trím, whám, pómpom, támtám, thém, drêam, wårm, hím, húm, próblem, Ádam, hêlium, têdium, thêorem, sêrum.
The prefixes in- and con- become im- and com- before p: impâtient, impàrtial, impráctical, complête, compônent, cómposíte, compôse.
Silent m occurs in mnemónic *nemónic, cf. silent n in åutumn.
The double m following the double c in accommodátion (cf. commódity) is notorious.
mp is pronounced as n in comptrôller (= contrôller).
In Sàmhaín, mh has a w sound: *Sàwin.
Scientific uses
- M prefix: mega, 1 000 000 in normal usage, 1 048 576 in computing
- m: mass
- m- prefix: old chemical notation, meta