M

M (n: Em)

The thirteenth letter of the Latin-based script.

The twelfth letter of the Greek-based script; Mu.

The thirteenth letter of the Cyrillic-based script; Em.

margin (n: 'mAr dZIn)

The distance and area between a text area and the edge of the paper or screen window. Some margin is needed to keep the gaze within the page boundary; margins help keep the user's gaze, on returning to the text edge and inaccurately fixing on the text edge for a new line, from falling onto something other than the text.

In CSS, a property that sets a stand-off of the container area of an element from its neighbors. This margin area does not take the background color or image of the element, and so is transparent.

marginal (adj: 'mAr dZIn @l)

Existing in the margin of another item; as, an initial that might be set only partially into a text area and thus be semi-marginal.

Of notes that are placed into the side margins of a page, rather than into footnotes or endnotes.

marginalia (n: 'mAr dZIn el i A)

Items that are placed in the margins of a page.

masthead (n: 'm&st hEd)

The section of a newspaper or magazine that gives details about the publishers, editors, reporters, artists, etc., usually in the first few pages of the publication.

medium (adj: 'mi di Vm)

A weight of letter darkness between regular and demibold.

medium capitals (m: 'mi di Vm 'k& pI t@lz)

A set of capital-shaped letters that are scaled between small capitals or lowercse x-height and the full capitals of the design.

midline waist (n: 'mId lAin weist)

An imaginary horizontal line that runs through a letter at about halfway up from the baseline.

monocameral (adj; ,mA no 'k&m @r @l)

Having only one style of letter for an entire script, making no distiction for capitalization. Of the world's dcripts, the majority are monocameral; Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, etc. have only one style of letter throughout a text. Some letters in Hebrew have final forms, and Arabic has medial, unlinked, and final forms, but there is no meaning attached to the distinction as there can be in a bicameral script, where capitalization can change the meanning of a word.

mutton quad (n: 'mV? @n kwAd)

A lead type piece used to make an em-square space; each mutton quad is one em along its sides, and varies with the type's point size. A half-width mutton quad is a nut quad, one en wide.