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Glite Dictionary
pica em

pica em

9.9
A measure equal to one sixth of an inch used in printing and page layout
  • noun
  • /ˈpaɪkə ɛm/
  • Specialized
: pica em
  • In traditional typography, a pica em is commonly used to measure line length.

Examples

  • In traditional typography, a pica em is commonly used to measure line length.

  • Each pica em is equivalent to 1/6 inch.

  • He set the column width to twelve pica ems to fit the layout guidelines.

  • The margin should be at least two pica ems wide for aesthetic balance.

  • The font size is set to pica em for better readability.

  • He set the column width to twelve pica ems to fit the layout guidelines.

  • Each pica em is equivalent to 1/6 inch.

Synonyms

pica
vspica em
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A unit used to measure printed type and column width equal to one sixth of an inch

is identical in meaning but framed generally for printing and typesetting

How Wide

foot
∞ 1.0
inch
∞ 1.0
pica em
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

pica em singular
pica ems plural

Morphology

pica + em

Both constituents are typographic measurement units, so the compound denotes a type of measurement in printing; a learner who knows 'pica' and 'em' will therefore infer it refers to a printing/typographic unit. The exact numeric value (1/6 inch) is specialized technical knowledge, but the overall compositional meaning is transparent from the parts.

Etymology

Pica em: The noun pica em comes from old printing shops. Printers used a small unit called a pica and the width of the letter 'M' called an em, so a pica em is a size based on that letter and is used to measure line length and space.