em quad

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em′ quad`


n.
Print. a square unit of area or type, that is approximately one em on each side.
[1870–75]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.em quad - a quad with a square body; "since `em quad' is hard to distinguish from `en quad', printers sometimes called it a `mutton quad'"
em, mutton quad
area unit, square measure - a system of units used to measure areas
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
Herself a printer, she notes that "the em quad is ...
Claire M. Bolton, The Fifteenth-Century Printing Practices of Johann Zainer, Ulm, 1473-1478
Twentieth-century manuals on letterpress printing generally characterize the widths of spaces and quads used in hand composition as being fractions or multiples of the square em quad. (1) The widest of the fractional widths is the en quad at one-half the width of the em quad; the other standard widths are the 3-to-em, the 4-to-em, and the 5-to-em spaces, which are respectively one-third, one-quarter, and one-fifth the width of the em quad.
Spaces
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