Regular Spaces
| Name / Code Points | Size | Use |
| space U+0020   |
set by the font designer, typically equal to 1/4 em space, but can range between 1/5 em to 1/2 em Also called: SP |
spaces between words and sentences, after punctuation, entered by pressing spacebar |
| no-break space U+00A0 |
same width as a regular space character Also called: NBSP |
prevents two words from being separated by a line break, Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar (PC) or Option+Spacebar (MAC) |
Spaces Narrower than a Regular Space
| Name / Code Points | Size | Use |
| hair space U+200A &#hairsp; |
set by the font designer, the thinnest space available, typically 1/24 to 1/12 an em space Also called: HSP |
sometimes between quotation marks when single quotation marks appear next to double quotation marks |
| sixth space U+2006   |
set by the font designer, typically 2/12 (1/6) of an em space Also called: six-per-em space, 6/MSP |
sometimes between quotation marks when single quotation marks appear next to double quotation marks |
| thin space U+2009 &#thinsp; |
set by the font designer, typically 1/5 of an em space (can be 1/4 to 1/6), often half of the regular word space Also called: THSP |
sometimes on both sides of em dashes, between two initials, between an initial and a surname, between punctuation and type set in all caps |
| middle space U+2005   |
set by the font designer, typically 3/12 (1/4) of an em space Also called: four-per-em space, 4/MSP, quarter space, mid space |
sometimes before and after a forward slash that separates two words |
Spaces Wider than a Regular Space
| Name / Code Points | Size | Use |
| thick space U+2004   |
set by the font designer, typically 4/12 (1/3) of an em Also called: three-per-em space, 3/MSP, third space |
sometimes used as the space between ellipse points |
| en space U+2002   |
set by the font designer, typically 6/12 (1/2) em space, matches the width of the em dashes Also called: ENSP |
sometimes between a figure number and caption or after a run-in head, traditionally after a bullet |
| em space U+2003   |
set by the font designer, typically a space equal to the type size in points, matches the width of the em dashes Also called: EMSP |
sometimes between a figure number and caption or after a run-in head, traditionally as a paragraph indent |
Other Whitespace Characters
| Name / Code Points | Size | Use |
| punctuation space U+2008   |
space equal to the narrow punctuation of a font, typically the width of a period or a colon Also called: PSP |
aligning multi-digit numbers, typesetting tables |
| figure space U+2007   |
space the same width as a number Also called: FSP |
aligning multi-digit numbers, typesetting tables |
| tab U+0009 Tab; |
varies, customizable, defaults range from 8 spaces to 1/2 inch | indent the first line of a paragraph, exporting and importing database or spreadsheet field values, creating faux tables |
Historical Use
Peter Burnhill shows how publisher Aldus Manutius (1449-1515) and his punchcutter, Francesco Griffo (1450-1518), created a unified system of deliberately engineered fractions for character size that could be used as a finely graded scale. For example:
From Type spaces: in-house norms in the typography of Aldus Manutius by Peter Burnhill (Hyphen Press) at https://hyphenpress.co.uk/products/books/type_spaces/
Resources
Unicode
Official: Unicode 15.1 Character Code Charts at at http://www.unicode.org/charts/#symbols
See links under Punctuation for
General Punctuation (General Punctuation Range: 2000–206F)
Latin-1 Punctuation (C1 Controls and Latin-1 Supplement Range: 0080–00FF) (no-break space)
See link under Specials for
Controls: C0 (C0 Controls and Basic Latin Range: 0000–007F) (space and tab)
User Friendly: Unicode Codepoint list with additional details and copy to clipboard at https://codepoints.net/general_punctuation
HTML
Official: WC3’s HTML 5 Specification, Named Character References at https://www.w3.org/TR/2010/WD-html5-20100304/named-character-references.html
User Friendly: HMTL Character Sets, Punctuation at https://www.w3schools.com/charsets/ref_utf_punctuation.asp
Microsoft Character Design Standards: Space Characters for Latin 1, Microsoft Typography Documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/develop/character-design-standards/whitespace
Adobe Glyphs and Special Characters: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/glyphs-special-characters.html
Style Guide
CMOS Shop Talk from the Chicago Manual of Style, Navigating Spaces in Manuscripts and Beyond at https://cmosshoptalk.com/2021/06/15/navigating-spaces-in-manuscripts-and-beyond/
CMOS Shop Talk from the Chicago Manual of Style, “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ”: When Quotation Marks and Apostrophes Collide at https://cmosshoptalk.com/2020/01/14/aint-misbehavin-when-quotation-marks-and-apostrophes-collide/
Related Articles
The width of the space character is flexible; it can be expanded or compressed; it can be fixed and unchanging or elastic and adapt to circumstances. Read about word spacing and adjustments: The Space Between Words
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