Dictionary of Meaning
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M
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{{AZ|uc=M|lc=m}}'''M''' is the thirteenth letter of the
Latin alphabet. Its name in
English language English is ''em''.
History
The letter '''M''' derives its shape from from the
Phoenician alphabet Phoenician Mem, via the
Greek alphabet Greek Mu (letter) Mu (Μ, μ). Semitic Mem originally pictured water, in all probability. It is speculated that Semitic people working in Egypt c. 2000 BC borrowed a hieroglyph for Water that was first used for the sound '
N', because of the Egyptian word for Water, "n-t". This same symbol became used for M in Semitic, because their word for water began with that sound.
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse;text-align:center;"
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
! Egyptian hieroglyph "N"
! Proto-Semitic M
! Phoenician M
! Etruscan M
! Greek M
|-----
|
n
|
Image:Proto-semiticM-01.png
|
Image:PhoenicianM-01.png
|
Image:EtruscanM-01.png
|
Image:GreekM-01.png
|}
The letter M represents the
bilabial nasal consonant sound,
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA {{IPA|[m]}}, in Classical languages as well as the modern
languages. The
Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that 'm' is sometimes a
vowel in words like ''spasm'' and in the
suffix ''-ism''. In modern terminology, this would be described as a
syllabic consonant — IPA {{IPA|[m̩]}}.
Codes for computing
{{Letter
|NATO=Mike
|Morse=––
|B1=â—?
|B2=â—‹
|B3=â—?
|B4=â—?
|B5=â—‹
|B6=â—‹
}}
In
Unicode the
majuscule capital M is codepoint U+004D and the
minuscule lowercase m is U+006D.
The
ASCII code for capital M is 77 and for lowercase m is 109; or in
Binary numeral system binary 01001101 and 01101101, correspondingly.
The
EBCDIC code for capital M is 212 and for lowercase m is 148.
The
numeric character references in
HTML and
XML are "
M" and "
m" for upper and lower case respectively.
Abbreviations in everyday use
* In
information systems, '''M''' is often used as the abbreviation for the male sex in personal data records.
* In
calendars, '''M''' is often an abbreviation for
Monday or for the
months March or May.
* In
French language French, and some English works by French authors, '''M.''' is an abbreviation for ''
Monsieur''.
Arts and popular culture
Comic books
*'''
M (comics) M''' is the name of a member of "
Generation X (comics) Generation X", a team of younger
mutant mutants affiliated with and coached by some of the former "
X-Men".
*'''
M (comic strip) M''' is a
Norway Norwegian comic strip.
Computer games
*'''M''' is the
Entertainment Software Rating Board ESRB rating symbol for Mature.
*'''M''' is the abbreviation for
Mario, a
Nintendo character.
*The name of a glitch
Pokémon, called '''
'M'''. (The real name is
Image:Msglitchname.gif)
Film
*'''M''' is the
codename of the head of
MI6 in the
James Bond books and films; see
M (James Bond).
*'''''M''''' is a film from
1931 directed by
Fritz Lang about a serial killer who preys on children; see
M (1931 film).
*'''''M''''' is the name of a lesser-known film from
1951; see
M (1951 film).
* '''
M (videocassette format) M''' is also the name of a now-defunct professional
videocassette format developed by
Matsushita and
RCA.
Music
*'''
M (band) M''' is the
assumed name of the artist
Robin Scott, who performed the 1979 #1 hit song "
Pop Muzik".
*'''-M-''' is the artist name of the French singer
Matthieu Chédid.
*'''"M"''' is the pseudonym for a Jazz vocalist hired by
Yoko Kanno (see
M (singer))
*'''M''' can be a reference to rapper
Eminem
*'''M''' is a song by
Ayumi Hamasaki
Photography
*In
photography, most
SLR cameras use '''M''' to signify manual mode, where the user sets both aperture and shutter speed.
Finance
* In common references to
currency, '''M''' or '''m''' denotes
million or millions, such as $25M (twenty-five million dollars).
* In traditional
accounting practice, M designates thousand or thousands (from the Latin ''mille''), and MM is used for million. Hence such traditional abbreviations as CPM for cost per thousand items of a retail good, or MCF for thousand cubic feet of (''e.g.'')
natural gas.
* In
economics, '''M''' is usually used to represent
imports.
* Script capital M (Unicode 0x2133 '''ℳ''') denotes the old German currency
gold mark mark.
Geographical abbreviations
* In
List of international license plate codes international licence plate codes, '''M''' stands for
Malta.
* As the first letter of a
postal code:
** In
Canada, '''M''' stands for the
Toronto, Ontario City of Toronto.
** In the
United Kingdom, '''M''' stands for
Manchester.
* In
radiocommunication, '''M''' is one of the
ITU prefixes allocated to the
United Kingdom.
* '''M''' is an abbreviation for the Russian design bureau
Myasishchev
* In
Denmark, the
Copenhagen Metro is often abbreviated to '''M'''.
Grammar
* In
grammar, '''M''' is often the abbreviation for the male
grammatical gender.
Military
* '''M''' is the US military designation for "
Model" in weapons, vehicles and other equipment, but not military aircraft. Started use in the early to mid 1930's. Prior usage was the word '''Model of''' with the year of adoption or standardization. The correct current usage is with the letter M and then the number assigned, ''e.g''. M1 rifle, ''etc.''
Science, computing and industry
Astronomy
* In
astronomy, M is an abbreviation for "
Messier" in designations for the
Messier object Messier Deepsky Objects.
* M stands for a June 16 through 30 discovery, in the provisional designation of a comet (e.g.
C/1860 M1, the Great Comet of 1860) or asteroid (e.g. {{mpl|(4314) 1979 ML|3}}).
Biochemistry
* In
biochemistry, M is the symbol for
methionine.
Chemistry
*''M'' is the symbol for the
molarity of solutions.
*''m'' is the symbol for the
sample mass of compounds.
*''m'' is also the symbol for the
molality of the compound.
Colour
* In the
CMYK color model, M stands for the colour
magenta.
Computing
* '''M''', when used as a
binary prefix, means 2
20 = 1,048,576 (
cf. M as a metric prefix below, and the prefix
mebi: Mi).
* '''M''' is another name for the computer programming language
MUMPS.
Mathematics
* '''m''' is used to denote
slope in
slope-intercept form. An M-set is the opposite of a
set of uniqueness.
* Script capital '''M''' (Unicode 0x2133 ℳ) denotes a
Matrix (mathematics) matrix.
* In the 1973 ''Handbook of Integer Sequences'' (a printed predecessor of the
OEIS) sequences were numbered in lexicographic order prefixed by the letter '''M'''. Some older mathematical papers use these M numbers.
Measurement (SI system)
*M (
mega) is an
SI prefix denoting 10
6 = 1,000,000 (one
million) (cf. M in computing above)
*m (
milli) is an SI prefix meaning 1/1000.
**m denotes
metre (or meter), the
SI base unit for length.
Physics
*
M-theory is a proposed solution for problems in
Superstring theory superstring theories.
* Script capital M (Unicode 0x2133 ℳ) denotes a
torque.
Printing
* A capital M with a strikethrough (
M) is used in the printing industry to denote one thousand, as in run quantity. For example, 4
M is the equivalent of 4,000.
Roman uses
* In the
Roman naming convention, '''M''' is the abbreviation for the
praenomen Marcus, and '''M'''' stands for
Manius.
* In
Roman numerals, '''M''' denotes
one thousand, from ''mille'' in
Latin (there are also separate
Unicode characters for this number, 0x216F "â…¯" and 0x217F "â…¿").
Theology
* In
theology and
higher criticism, '''M''' is an abbreviation for "
M source M Gospel"
See also
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