What does endash mean?
The en dash is a punctuation mark in typography, slightly longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash, named because its traditional width approximates that of the letter 'n'. Its principal job is to signal range and connection: date spans such as 1945–1960, page ranges like pages 100–120, sports scores, and links between two places or people, as in the New York–London flight. It is a workhorse mark of careful editing, and its correct use is one of the small signals that distinguish professionally typeset text from casual writing. Conventions differ by region: American publishers typically keep the unspaced en dash for ranges and give parenthetical interruptions to the longer em dash, while many British styles permit a spaced en dash to perform that interrupting role. Because it is easily confused with both the hyphen and the em dash, the en dash is a frequent subject of style-guide guidance and copy-editing attention, making familiarity with it genuinely useful for writers, editors, and designers alike.
nounA dash of intermediate length (–) used in typography, typically to indicate a range such as dates or numbers (e.g. 1939–1945) or to join items in certain compound constructions.
- A typographic dash (–) about the width of the letter 'n', used chiefly to mark numeric or date ranges (e.g. 1990–2000), scores (e.g. 3–1), and relationships or connections between paired items (e.g. the London–Paris route).
"The style guide calls for an en dash between page numbers, as in pages 45–62."
"The conference runs from 12–15 June, so be sure the en dash is used in all printed materials."
"In British style, an en dash often replaces parentheses to set off a clause — a habit that puzzles American editors expecting an em dash."
Standard pluralization; also seen spelled 'en-dashes' when the term is hyphenated as a compound modifier.
"The proofreader flagged several missing en dashes throughout the index."
Its name comes from typography: it's called an 'en' dash because it's supposed to be as wide as the letter 'n'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of endash
The term 'en dash' arises from printing practice, in which dashes were named for the width of metal type pieces: the 'en' was a space the width of the letter n, and this dash was cut to match it. The underlying word 'dash' itself comes from the verb meaning to strike or break violently, adopted into typography for a horizontal stroke that breaks up text. Its sibling term 'em dash' follows the same naming logic with the wider 'em' measure. The mark became standard in fine printing well before digital typography inherited and standardized it in Unicode and modern fonts.
Related word forms
How endash is actually used
Usage conventions vary: American styles (e.g. Chicago) use the en dash for ranges but reserve the em dash for parenthetical breaks; British styles frequently allow the en dash with spaces for that parenthetical role instead. The word is almost exclusively found in editorial, typographic, and publishing contexts rather than everyday speech.
Easily confused with endash
An en dash is roughly half the width of an em dash and is mainly used for ranges and connections, while an em dash marks breaks in thought or emphasis.
A hyphen is shorter than an en dash and joins words within compounds (e.g. 'well-known'), whereas an en dash separates ranges or relationships between independent elements.