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The letter M is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is em .
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History
The letter M derives its shape from the Phoenician Mem, via the Greek 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 an alveolar nasal (, 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.
The letter M represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound, IPA , 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 .
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Codes for computing
In Unicode the capital M is codepoint U+004D and the lowercase m is U+006D.
The ASCII code for capital M is 77 and for lowercase m is 109; or in 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 "&" and "&" for upper and lower case respectively.
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Abbreviations for M 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, and some English works by French authors, M. is an abbreviation for Monsieur.
In clothing, M can mean "medium size". European clothing-size standard EN 13402 defines the size code M to refer to chest girths 94–102 cm for men's clothes and bust girths 90–98 cm for women's clothes. Manufacturers also use their own non-standard defining body measurements for this size code.
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Comic books
M is the name of a member of "Generation X", a team of younger mutants affiliated with and coached by some of the former "X-Men".
M is a Norwegian comic strip.
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Computer games
M is the ESRB rating symbol for Mature.
M is the abbreviation for Mario, a Nintendo character. The red hat he wears has a red capital "M" on it.
'M is the nickname of a certain glitch in the Pokémon video games, which takes the form of a wild pokémon..
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Transportation
M is the name of a New York City Subway line, the M train, which runs between Metropolitan Avenue in Queens, through Manhattan, to Bay Parkway in Brooklyn
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Film
M is a defunct rating in the MPAA rating system. It denoted films that MPAA classified as 'for Mature Audiences: Parental discretion advised.' It was used very briefly, from 1968 to 1969. It was followed by 'GP' in 1969, and by 'PG' in 1970.
M is a film and television rating used by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification denoting that the film may contain material that requires a semi-mature perspective, it imposes no restrictions on who may view it.
The names of many heroines in Hitchcock movies start with the letter M (this applies to aliases, too, such as in Marnie).
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Music
M can be a reference to rapper Eminem
M is the first letter of the name assumed by Mattew Miller for his music career, Matisyahu.
A lower-case m placed after a note name indicates a minor chord (e.g., Em for an E minor chord).
M, a male Korean singer also known as Lee Min Woo
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Symbols
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Books
'''M''' is the name of an online novel about the end of time by Michael Harold.
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Photography
In photography, most SLR cameras use M to signify manual mode, where the user sets both aperture and shutter speed.
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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.
Script capital M (Unicode 0x2133 ℳ) denotes the old German currency Goldmark.
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Geographical abbreviations
M is an abbreviation for the Russian design bureau Myasishchev
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Grammar
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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.
In war time, the letter M is often written on the forehead of casualties to alert medics that the patient has been given morphine.
The NATO M band ranges from 60 to 100 GHz.
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Astronomy
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. ).
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Biochemistry
In biochemistry, M is the symbol for methionine.
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Chemistry
M is the symbol for the molarity of solutions.
m is the symbol for the of compounds.
m is also the symbol for the molality of the compound.
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Colour
In the CMYK color model, M stands for the colour magenta.
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Computing
M, when used as a binary prefix, means 220 = 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.
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Mathematics
Script capital M (Unicode 0x2133 ℳ) denotes a 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.
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Measurement (SI system)
m (milli) is an SI prefix meaning 1/1000.
m is a widely used abbreviation for mile, as seen, for example, on road signs in the UK. In such instances, the metre is usually abbreviated as 'mtr' or similar to avoid confusion with miles.
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Physics
Upper-case M represents a constant mass property of an object of matter.
Lower-case m represents a mass variable of matter in change.
Script capital M (Unicode 0x2133 ℳ) denotes a torque.
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Printing
A capital M with a strikethrough (M) is used in the printing industry to denote one thousand, as in run quantity. For example, 4M is the equivalent of 4,000.
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Automotive
M is the symbol for the high end performance BMW cars: M3, M5, M6,and the new Z4 M.
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Roman uses for M
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Theology
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See also
sn:M
yo:M
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