Home › Entities › standard_unix_utility_or_command › m4

m4

traditional UNIX macro processor
CreativeWork standard_unix_utility_or_command Q292068
Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

m4

Summary

m4 is a standard UNIX utility or command[1]. m4 draws 830 Wikipedia views per month (standard_unix_utility_or_command category, ranking #22 of 124).[2]

Key Facts

  • m4's instance of is recorded as standard UNIX utility or command[3].
  • m4's instance of is recorded as general-purpose macro processor[4].
  • m4's instance of is recorded as programming language[5].
  • m4's designed by is recorded as Brian Kernighan[6].
  • 1977 marks the founding of m4[7].
  • m4's described at URL is recorded as http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/m4.html[8].
  • m4's different from is recorded as M4[9].
  • m4's reads environment variable is recorded as LANG[10].
  • m4's reads environment variable is recorded as LC_ALL[11].
  • m4's reads environment variable is recorded as LC_CTYPE[12].
  • m4's reads environment variable is recorded as LC_MESSAGES[13].
  • m4's reads environment variable is recorded as NLSPATH[14].
  • m4's has command line option is recorded as s[15].
  • m4's has command line option is recorded as D[16].
  • m4's has command line option is recorded as U[17].

Why It Matters

m4 draws 830 Wikipedia views per month (standard_unix_utility_or_command category, ranking #22 of 124).[2] m4 has Wikipedia articles in 14 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[18] m4 is known by 5 alternative names across languages and contexts.[19]

Related Entities

Brian Kernighan GNU m4 programming language

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [18] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [19] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). m4. Retrieved May 3, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/m4-q292068
MLA “m4.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 3 May. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/m4-q292068.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_m4-q292068_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{m4}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/m4-q292068}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): m4 — https://4ort.xyz/entity/m4-q292068 (retrieved 2026-05-03)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/m4-q292068 · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 5d ago · VGMaintenanceBot bot · 2026-09-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Described at url → http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/m4
    File format wiki page id → M4
    Designed by → —
    Different from → M4
    + 15 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetqualifier-add:1| */ [[Property:P9675]]: 3216, Add qualifier to File Format Wiki page ID `M4`"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.