Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe punctuation mark –, which is used, for instance, to indicate a range.
Origin
Named for its width, which is equal to the width of the letter n or N, or approximately half the width of an em dash.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 短劃線 /短划线
- 短劃線 /短划线typographical symbol –
Czech pomlčka
- pomlčkatypographical symbol –
Dutch half kastlijntje
- half kastlijntjetypographical symbol –
Finnish n-viiva, lyhyt ajatusviiva
- n-viivatypographical symbol –
- lyhyt ajatusviivatypographical symbol –
French tiret demi-cadratin
- tiret demi-cadratintypographical symbol –
German Halbgeviertstrich
- Halbgeviertstrichtypographical symbol –
Greek παύλα
- παύλα (pávla)typographical symbol –
Hungarian félkvirtmínusz
- félkvirtmínusztypographical symbol –
Icelandic tilstrik, stutt þankastrik
- tilstriktypographical symbol –
- stutt þankastriktypographical symbol –
Irish ein-dais
- ein-daistypographical symbol –
Italian lineetta enne
- lineetta ennetypographical symbol –
Persian سهچهارمخط
- سهچهارمخط (se-čahârom-xat)typographical symbol –
Polish półpauza
- półpauzatypographical symbol –
Portuguese meia-risca, meio-traço
- meia-riscatypographical symbol –
- meio-traçotypographical symbol –
Russian дефи́с
- дефи́с (defís)typographical symbol –
Spanish semirraya
- semirrayatypographical symbol –
Swedish tankstreck, halvfyrkantsminus
- tankstrecktypographical symbol –
- halvfyrkantsminustypographical symbol –
Cite this entry
APA
en dash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20dash
MLA
“en dash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20dash. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “en dash,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/en%20dash.
Source: en dash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.