LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
interjection

hem

hem
Classical[ˈhẽː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛm]

Meaning

  1. eh?, really?, well, well!, just look! (expressing surprise)
    DĀVUS: Nōn hercle intellegō. SĪMŌ: Nōn? Hem? DĀVUS: Nōn — Dāvus sum, nōn Oedipus.DAVUS: By Hercules, I don’t know [what you’re talking about]. SIMO: You don’t? Really? DAVUS: Nope — I’m Davus, not Oedipus. (The wily slave Davus acts as if his master Simo speaks in riddles: Oedipus famously solved the riddle of the sphinx.)166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 194

hem (also em, and often confounded in MSS. and edd. with em and en, q. v.), interj., an expression of surprise, in a good or bad sense; of admiration, joy, of grief, indignation, etc. (like the intensive ehem, an expression of joyful surprise),
I. oho! indeed! well! well to be sure! hah! alas! alack! Ag. Ego sum ipsus, quem tu quaeris. Ha. Hem! quid ego audio? Plaut. Poen. 5, 2, 86; cf. Ter. And. 3, 1, 4: hem, Pamphile, optime te mihi offers, id. ib. 4, 2, 3: Er. Itane Chrysis? hem! My. Nos quidem pol miseras perdidit, Ter. And. 4, 5, 8; cf. id. Eun. 5, 1, 11: miserum me! quanto haec dixi cum dolore! hem, Postume, tune es, etc., Cic. Rab. Post. 17, 45: occepi mecum cogitare: hem, biduum hic Manendum est soli sine illa, Ter. Eun. 4, 2, 8: hem tibi maledictis pro istis, Plaut. Curc. 1, 3, 39; cf. id. Ps. 1, 2, 22: hem, quid ais, scelus? Ter. And. 4, 1, 42; cf.: audistin', obsecro? hem scelera, id. ib. 4, 4, 47: hem nos homunculi indignamur, si quis, etc., Sulp. ap. Cic. Fam. 4, 5, 4; Ter. Phorm. 4, 4, 7.

Quick answers

What does hem mean in Latin?
hem, a interjection, means “eh?, really?, well, well!, just look! (expressing surprise)”.
How do you pronounce hem?
In classical Latin, [ˈhẽː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈɛm].