The letter ⟨m⟩ represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound [ m] in the orthography of Latin as well as in that of many modern languages, and also in the International Phonetic Alphabet. In English, the Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that ⟨m⟩ is sometimes a vowel, in words like spasm and in the suffix -ism. In modern terminology, this is described as a syllabic consonant (IPA [m̩]). M is the fourteenth most frequently used letter in the English language. a b c d "M definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021 . Retrieved 9 February 2021. Constable, Peter (2004-04-19). "L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11 . Retrieved 2018-03-24. The Roman numeral M represents the number 1000, though it was not used in Roman times. There is, however, scant evidence that the letter was later introduced in the early centuries A.D. by the Romans. [3]

M often represents male or masculine, especially in conjunction with F for female or feminine. [4] [5]

a b Perry, David J. (2006-08-01). "L2/06-269: Proposal to Add Additional Ancient Roman Characters to UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-06-14 . Retrieved 2018-03-24.

Some symbols related to M were used by the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet prior to its formal standardization in 1902: [8] Everson, Michael; et al. (2002-03-20). "L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-19 . Retrieved 2018-03-24. a b c d e "What does M stand for?". The Free Dictionary. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020 . Retrieved 9 February 2021. Figure Three: "Chart of all early proto-Canaanite letters with comparison to proto-Sinaitic signs" (p. 39), In typography, an em dash is a punctuation symbol whose width is equal to that of a capital letter M.In Washo, lower-case ⟨m⟩ represents a typical em sound, while upper-case ⟨M⟩ represents a voiceless em sound. Ruppel, Klaas; Aalto, Tero; Everson, Michael (2009-01-27). "L2/09-028: Proposal to encode additional characters for the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11 . Retrieved 2018-03-24.

m is the standard abbreviation for metre (or meter) in the International System of Units (SI). [4] However, m is also used as an abbreviation for mile. [5]Archaic M was used in ancient Roman texts to abbreviate the personal name 'Manius' (A regular capital M was used for the more common personal name 'Marcus') [11] Gordon, Arthur E. (1983). Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy. University of California Press. pp. 45. ISBN 9780520038981 . Retrieved 3 October 2015. roman numerals. The Teuthonista phonetic transcription system uses U+AB3A ꬺ LATIN SMALL LETTER M WITH CROSSED-TAIL [9]