any unit that belongs to a system of electrical cgs units in which the magnetic constant is given the value of unity and is taken as a pure number
Abbreviation: EMU, e.m.u.. Compare electrostatic unit
electromagnetic unit in American English
noun
a unit, as an abampere, in the system of units derived from the magnetic effects of an electric current
Abbreviation: emu, EMU
Word origin
[1910–15]This word is first recorded in the period 1910–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cat and mouse, flashback, functionalism, grass roots, payoff