In 1683, in
Joseph Moxon's book on the art of printing, the terms
m and
n quadrat are attested: And as there is three Heighths or Sizes to be considered in Letters Cut to the same
Body, so is there three Sizes to be considered, with respect to the Thicknesses of all these Letters, when the
Punches are to be Forged: For some are m thick; by m thick is meant m
Quadrat thick, which is just so thick as the Body is high: Some are n thick; that is to say, n
Quadrat thick, ''
half so thick as the Body is high: And some are Space'' thick; that is, one quarter so thick as the Body is high; though [...] we shall call these Spaces, Thick Spaces. In 1771, in the first edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica, it says: , in printing, a piece of metal cast like the letters, to fill up the void spaces between words, etc. There are quadrats of different sizes, as m-quadrats, n-quadrats, etc., which are, respectively, of the dimensions of these letters. In 1841, in
William Savage's
A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, the terms
em and
en quadrat are attested: QUADRATS. Pieces of type metal, of the depth of the body of the respective sizes to which they are cast, and lower than types, so as to leave a blank space on the paper, when printed, where they are placed: an en quadrat is half as thick as its depth; an em quadrat is equal in thickness and depth, and, being square on its surface, is
the true quadrat, from
quadratus, squared; a two em quadrat is twice the thickness of its depth; a three em three times; and a four em four times, as their names specify. Four ems are the largest quadrats that are cast. They are used to fill out short lines; to form white lines; and to justify letters, figures, &c., in any part of a line or page. In 1903, in
Chambers Dictionary, the term
quad is attested:
Quad, kwod, '
(') an abbreviation of
quadrat.— to fill with quadrats. [...]
Quadrat, kwod′rat, '
a piece of type-metal lower than the letters, used in spacing between words and filling out blank lines (commonly Quad'
)—distinguished as en
, em
, two-em
, and three-em'' . == Notes ==