M • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of M

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noun

M n.

M, the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant, and from the manner of its formation, is called the labio-nasal consonant. Note: The letter M came into English from the Greek, through the Latin, the form of the Greek letter being further derived from the Phoenician, and ultimately, it is believed, from the Egyptian. Etymologically M is related to n, in lime, linden; emmet, ant; also to b. M is readily followed by b and p. the position of the lips in the formation of both letters being the same. The relation of b and m is the same as that of d and t to n. and that of g and k to ng.

As a numeral, M stands for one thousand, both in English and Latin.

M n.

(Print.) A quadrat, the face or top of which is a perfect square; also, the size of such a square in any given size of type, used as the unit of measurement for that type: 500 m's of pica would be a piece of matter whose length and breadth in pica m's multiplied together produce that number. (Written also em)

(law) A brand or stigma, having the shape of an M, formerly impressed on one convicted of manslaughter and admitted to the benefit of clergy. M roof (Arch.), a kind of roof formed by the junction of two common roofs with a valley between them, so that the section resembles the letter M.

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Etymology of 'M'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"M" Quotes from Famous Books

... words no sooner had escaped the belle, Than Damon into jealous torments fell; With rage he left the room; and on his way, A large pack-saddle near his footsteps lay, Which on his back he put, then cried aloud, I'm saddled! see; round quickly came a crowd; The father, mother, all the servants ran; The neighbours too; the husband then began To state the circumstance that gave him pain; And fully all the folly ...

— The Tales and Novels, Complete • Jean de La Fontaine

... the glove away again). I'm coming, coming. Hi, Frank! The knave I told to wake me ...

— The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. IV • Editor-in-Chief: Kuno Francke

... 'I, wullahy! I'm but a woman, Genie, though the wife of Shagpat: and to carry thee is for the camel and ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... more and more distant, the sing-song tune grows in volume once more, and the rows of little French boys are again in the way of becoming good Catholics. In another side chapel the confessional box bears a large white card on which is printed in bold letters, "M. le Cure." He is on duty at the present time, for, from behind the curtained lattices, the stranger hears a soft mumble of words, and he is constrained to move silently towards the patch of blazing whiteness that ...

— Normandy, Complete - The Scenery & Romance Of Its Ancient Towns • Gordon Home

... former work; a biography by Robert Redman; a metrical chronicle by Elmham (published in Rolls Series in "Memorials of Henry the Fifth"); and the meagre chronicles of Hardyng and Otterbourne. The King's Norman campaigns may be studied in M. Puiseux's "Siege de Rouen" (Caen, 1867). The "Wars of the English in France" and Blondel's work "De Reductione Normanniae" (both in Rolls Series) give ample information on the military side of this and the next reign. But with the accession ...

— History of the English People, Volume II (of 8) - The Charter, 1216-1307; The Parliament, 1307-1400 • John Richard Green

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