English

Noun

thin space ‎(plural thin spaces)

1. (letterpress typography) A metal block used to separate words, one fifth of an em in width.
   • 1683, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handy-Works. Applied to the art of Printing., v 2, pp. 240–41:

     If it be only a Single Letter or two that drops, he thruſts the end of his Bodkin between every Letter of that Word, till he comes to a Space: and then perhaps by forcing thoſe Letters closer, he may have room to put in another Space or a Thin Space; which if he cannot do, and he finds the Space ſtand Looſe in the Form; he with the Point of his Bodkin picks the Space up and bows it a little; which bowing makes the Letters on each ſide of the Space keep their parallel diſtance; for by its Spring it thruſts the Letters that were cloſed with the end of the Bodkin to their adjunct Letters, that needed no cloſing.

2. (typography) In digital text, a character representing a thin space.
   • 2002, Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style (version 2.5), Vancouver, Hartley & Marks, ISBN 0-88179-133-4, p 43:

     All you may see on the keyboard is a space bar, but typographers use several invisible characters: the word space, fixed spaces of various sizes (em space, en space, thin space, figure space, etc) and a hard space or no-break space.

Synonyms

• 5-to-the-em space, 5-em space

Related terms

• thick space

Anagrams

• cathepsin