Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Hebrew mēm מ, Aramaic mem 𐡌, Syriac mīm ܡ, Arabic mīm م, and Phoenician mēm 𐤌. Its sound value is [m]. The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek mu (Μ), Etruscan 
, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.
𐤌
מ
𐡌
ܡ
م
Position in alphabet
13
Numerical value
40
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician
Mem is believed to derive from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water,
which had been simplified by the Phoenicians and named after their word for "water", mem (
), ultimately coming from Proto-Semitic *may-.
Mīm
م
Usage
Writing system
Type
Language of origin
Sound values
[m]
In Unicode
U+0645 م ARABIC LETTER MEEM
History
Development
Other
Writing direction
Right-to-left
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
The letter is named mīm, and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:
Position in word
Isolated
Final
Medial
Initial
Glyph form:
(Help)
م
ـم
ـمـ
مـ
Some examples on its uses in Modern Standard Arabic:
Mīm is used in the creation of ism words (i.e. nouns and adjectives; they are treated fundamentally the same in Arabic grammar). Specifically, mīm is used in the creation of the masdar (verbal noun) of Stem III verbs (the masdar of verbs on the pattern fāʿalaismufāʿala), of subject and object nouns for verbs of Stems II-X (using the example of Stem II, subject nouns—called fāʿil words because of their form in Stem I—are mufaʿʿil for verbs of Stems II-X, and object nouns—called mafʿūl also because of their Stem I form—take the form mufaʿʿal for verbs of Stems II-X). Place-nouns are also created with mīm; the pattern mafʿal is used to create maktab "office" from the triliteral k-t-b (to write) and maṣnaʿ "factory" from ṣ-n-ʿ (to make).
Orthographic variants of non-final form
Various print fonts
מ
מ
מ
Hebrew spelling: מֵם
Mem represents a bilabial nasal [m].
Orthographic variants of final form
Various Print Fonts
ם
ם
ם
In Hebrew, Mem, like Kaph, Nun, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words: its shape changes from מ to ם.
Ingematria, Mem represents the number 40 in both the Standard and Mispar Gadol Methods of Gematria; However, (mem sofit) final mem's value is 40 in the Standard Method and 600 in the Mispar Gadol method. The Standard Method adds the values of Tav and Resh (400+200) to denote the value of mem sofit.
In the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Mem is King over Water, Formed Earth in the Universe, Cold in the Year, and the Belly in the Soul.
As an abbreviation, it stands for metre. In the Israeli army it can also stand for mefaked, commander. In Hebrew religious texts, it can stand for the name of God Makom, the Place.
Mem is associated with The Hanged Man (Atu XII), the element of water and the path between Geburah and Hod on the Tree of Life.
Position in word
Isolated
Final
Medial
Initial
Glyph form:
(Help)
ܡ
ـܡ
ـܡـ
ܡـ
Character information
Preview
מ
ם
م
ܡ
ࠌ
ﬦ
מּ
Unicode name
HEBREW LETTER MEM
HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM
ARABIC LETTER MEEM
SYRIAC LETTER MIM
SAMARITAN LETTER MIM
HEBREW LETTER WIDE FINAL MEM
HEBREW LETTER MEM WITH DAGESH
Encodings
decimal
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
1502
U+05DE
1501
U+05DD
1605
U+0645
1825
U+0721
2060
U+080C
64294
U+FB26
64318
U+FB3E
215 158
D7 9E
215 157
D7 9D
217 133
D9 85
220 161
DC A1
224 160 140
E0 A0 8C
239 172 166
EF AC A6
239 172 190
EF AC BE
מ
מ
ם
ם
م
م
ܡ
ܡ
ࠌ
ࠌ
ﬦ
ﬦ
מּ
מּ
Character information
Preview
𐎎
𐡌
𐤌
Unicode name
UGARITIC LETTER MEM
IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER MEM
PHOENICIAN LETTER MEM
Encodings
decimal
hex
dec
hex
dec
hex
66446
U+1038E
67660
U+1084C
67852
U+1090C
240 144 142 142
F0 90 8E 8E
240 144 161 140
F0 90 A1 8C
240 144 164 140
F0 90 A4 8C
55296 57230
D800 DF8E
55298 56396
D802 DC4C
55298 56588
D802 DD0C
𐎎
𐎎
𐡌
𐡌
𐤌
𐤌
