En (typography)

An en is a typographic unit, half of the width of an em. By definition it is equivalent to half of the height of the font (e.g. in 16 point type it is 8 points). As its name suggests, it is also traditionally the width of a letter "N".

The en dash (–) and en space ( ) are each one en wide. The en dash is used for inclusive ranges (e.g., "pages 12–17" or "August 7, 1988–November 26, 2005").

See also

*Dash
*Em (typography)
*X-height