מ, the Hebrew cursive letter mem
מ (mem) is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, representing the voiced bilabial nasal /m/; at the end of words, it assumes the closed final form ם (mem sofit).
In words
אמא · mother
מכתב · letter
משפחה · family
History
מ is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 40. In traditional and modern Hebrew and Yiddish, it represents the voiced bilabial nasal /m/; at the end of words, it assumes the closed final form ם (mem sofit).
In cursive handwriting, medial mem is written with a looping curved motion that differs completely from its printed square form. Final mem (mem sofit) is formed as a rounded or oval loop closed at the bottom.
Mem is one of the most frequent consonants in Hebrew and Yiddish, marking plurals, prefixes, participles, and interrogative pronouns across all historical document genres.
Mem comes from the Egyptian hieroglyph for water, which was simplified in the Proto-Sinaitic script and named after the West Semitic word for water, mem.[1] In the Mispar Gadol method of gematria, final mem counts 600, not 40.[2] As an abbreviation mem stands for metre,[3] and in religious texts it can stand for Makom, the Place, a name of God.[4] In the Israeli army it can also stand for mefaked, commander.[5]
Sources
- [1] Mem — Wikipedia — from the hieroglyph for water (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [2] Mem — Wikipedia — final mem 600, Mispar Gadol (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [3] Mem — Wikipedia — metre (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [4] Mem — Wikipedia — Makom, the Place (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [5] Mem — Wikipedia — mefaked, commander (accessed 2026-10-14)