Editing En (typography)

{{refimprove|date=March 2023}}
{{Short description|Typographic unit equal to half an em}}

An '''en''' (from English ''[[en quad|en quadrat]]'') is a [[typographic unit]], half of the width of an [[em (typography)|em]].  By definition, it is equivalent to half of the [[Body height (typography)|body height]] of the [[typeface]] (e.g., in 16-[[point (typography)|point]] type it is 8 points).<ref name="stokes">{{cite book |last1=Stokes |first1=Roy Bishop |title=Esdaile's manual of bibliography |date=2001 |page=152 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-3922-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faqCpauRmRcC |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref> The en is sometimes referred to as the "nut", to avoid confusion with the similar-sounding "em".<ref name="southward">{{cite book |last1=Southward |first1=John |title=Practical Printing: A Handbook to the Art of Typography |date=1911 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZ85AQAAMAAJ |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

The [[Dash#En dash|en dash]] ({{char|&ndash;}}) and en [[space (punctuation)|space]] ({{char|&ensp;}}) are each one ''en'' wide. In English, the en dash is commonly used for inclusive ranges (e.g., "pages 12–17" or "August 7, 1988 – November 26, 2005"), to connect [[prefix]]es to [[Compound (linguistics)|open compound]]s (e.g., "pre–World War II"). <ref name="chicago">{{cite web |title=Hyphens, En Dashes, Em Dashes |url=https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/HyphensEnDashesEmDashes/faq0002.html |website=Chicago Manual of Style |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

The en-dash is also increasingly used to replace the [[Dash#Em dash|long dash]] ("—", also called an em dash or em rule). When using it to replace a long dash, spaces are needed either side of it – like so. This is standard practice in the [[German language]], where the [[hyphen]] is the only [[dash]] without spaces on either side ([[Newline|line break]]s are not spaces ''per se'').{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

==History==
Some sources claim the term "en" was derived from the letter "n", which is roughly half the width of the letter "m". This etymology, however, is disputed.<ref name="blokland">{{cite web |last1=Blokland |first1=Frank E. |title=em and en squares |url=https://www.lettermodel.org/em-en_squares.html |website=lettermodel.org |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

Beginning in the late 18th century, [[compositor (typesetting)|compositor]]s were frequently paid by the en,<ref name="stokes" /> rather than by the page. In the [[United Kingdom]], a commonly cited "standard" rate was 1,000 ens per hour, although actual compositors' output varied widely. Many workers fell short of this figure, while skilled workers were known to set 2,000–3,000 ens per hour, and late-1900s typesetting competitions often saw participants reach a corrected rate of 4,000 ens per hour. After the introduction of the [[Linotype machine|Linotype]] typesetters frequently reached rates of at least 6,000 ens per hour.<ref name="gaskell">{{cite book |last1=Gaskell |first1=Philip |title=A New Introduction to Bibliography}}</ref>

== Associated symbols ==
* ''en space'': {{unichar|2002|EN SPACE|html=|note=&amp;#8194; {{middot}} &amp;#x2002;}}
* ''en dash'': {{unichar|2013|EN DASH|html=|note=&amp;#8211; {{middot}} &amp;#x2013;}}<ref name="unicode">{{cite web |title=General Punctuation |url=https://codepoints.net/general_punctuation |website=Codepoints.net |access-date=18 March 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Non-breaking space#Width variation|Non-breaking space width variations]]
* [[List of XML and HTML character entity references|Standard typographic symbols]]
* [[x-height]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Typography terms}}

[[Category:Typography]]


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