em
em
Noun
pl: ems
In modern digital typography and CSS, this unit is relative rather than fixed. It scales based on the font size of the element it is applied to, making it essential for creating responsive layouts that maintain proportional spacing across different screen sizes.
Because it is a technical unit of measurement, it is typically used in professional design and programming contexts. It is distinct from the "rem" (root em), which refers specifically to the font size of the root element of a document.
Meanings
Related Words
typographyfonttypewidthmeasurementpointpicapixelkerningleadingspacingindentationmargincolumncharacterglyphletterserifsans serifitalicboldbaselineascenderdescenderwhite spacelayoutcompositiontypesettingprintingpressdigitalweb designcsshtmlresponsiverelativeabsoluteunitscaleproportionratiohyphenpunctuationtextparagraphlineblockpaddingbordercanvasgridalignmentjustificationligaturetypefaceweightstylerenderingrasterizationvectoroutlinestrokefill