List of character, symbol & sign names

Below is an overview of 85 frequently used characters, punctuation symbols or signs that are included in most fonts. These include punctuation marks and other symbols used in typography. Technically these character shapes are called glyphs. Next to each glyph name the Unicode and HTML entity are listed, as well as the ASCII code and HTML entity if these are available. I also listed the Windows ALT keystroke or the Mac equivalent that can be used to insert the character in a text.
The typeface used for most examples is Arial Bold. Small lines indicate the baseline, x-height, and the ascender and descender heights.

Click a character
Currency $ ¢ € £ ₽ ₹ ¥ ¤
Letters æ Æ œ Œ â ç è
Math + – × ÷ = ≠ ≈ ≅ ¬ ± < ≤ ≥ > ≡ # % ‰ ‱ ∞
Numbers ½ ⅓ ¼ ⅔ ¾ ¹ ² ³
Punctuation . , : ; ! ¡ ? ¿ ‽ & ' " @ \ ¦ • { } ( ) [ ] ° ¨ ‹ › « » … ~ _
Symbols ✓ | ¦ † ‡ ° ¨ ♀ ♂ ◊ * µ Å Ω © ® ™ §
Emoji Here 😀

AE ligatures – æ and Æ

lowercase ae ligature
Lowercase ae

Lowercase ae
Unicode: U+000E6
HTML entity: &aelig; – HTML code: &#230;
PC keystroke: ALT+0230

uppercase ae ligature
Uppercase ae

Uppercase ae
Unicode: U+000C8
HTML entity: &AElig; – HTML code: &#198;
PC keystroke: ALT+0198

Almost Equal To – ≈

almost equal to sign
Almost equal to

Unicode: U+02248
HTML entity: &asymp; – HTML code: &#8776;
Also called approximately equals, asymptotic to or the double tilde. The tilde (~), approximately equal to (≅) and asymptotically equal to (≃) are other signs used to indicate approximation, depending on the context.

Ampersand – &

ampersand sign
Ampersand

Unicode: U+00026 – ASCII: 38
HTML entity: &amp; – HTML code: &#38;
Logogram derived from the letters et – Latin for ‘and’
PC keystroke: usually found in the top row

Angstrom – Å

angstrom
Angstrom

Unicode: U+0212B
HTML code: &#8491;
Letter from the Swedish alphabet that is used to indicate a unit of length equal to 0.1 nanometre (10−10 m)

Apostrophe – ‘

apostrophe sign
Apostrophe

Unicode: U+00027 – ASCII: 39
HTML entity: &apos; – HTML code: &#39;
Also called the closing single quotation mark
PC keystroke: ALT+39 or ALT+0027

Approximately equal to – ≅

approximately equal to
Approximately equal to

Unicode: U+02245
HTML entity: &cong; – HTML code: &#8773;

Asterisk – *

asterisk sign
Asterisk

Unicode: U+0002A – ASCII: 42
HTML entity: &ast; – HTML code: &#42;
PC keystroke: ALT+42

At Sign – @

at sign
At

Unicode: U+00040 – ASCII: 64
HTML entity: &commat; – HTML code: &#64;
In Unicode this is called the commercial at glyph.

Backslash – \

backslash sign
Reverse Solidus

Unicode: U+0005C – ASCII: 92
HTML entity: &bsol; – HTML entity: &#92;
The Unicode name is reverse solidus even though that glyph is less vertical.

Broken Vertical Bar – ¦

broken vertical bar sign
Broken Vertical Bar

Unicode: U+000A6
HTML entity: &brvbar; – HTML code: &#166;
PC keystroke: ALT+0166

Bullet – •

bullet sign
Bullet

Unicode: U+02022
HTML entity: &bull; – HTML code: &#8226;
PC keystroke: ALT+0149

Caret – ^

Caret

Unicode: U+0005E – ASCII: 94
HTML entity: &Hat; – HTML code: &#94;
Also called the hat, roof or house sign.
Used in mathematics to represent an exponent, such as a square or cube (e.g. 6^3). Also used as shorthand for Ctrl (e.g. Ctrl+C = ^C) or to indicate content is missing. Not to be confused with the circumflex accent which is used on top of characters (e.g. â)

Cedilla

cedilla sign
Cedilla

Unicode: U+000B8
HTML entity: &ccedil; for a lowercase c with cedilla
Usually added underneath other glyphs, e.g. ç or Ȩ. Resembles a small ‘5’ in most typefaces.

Cent Sign – ¢

cent sign
Cent

Unicode: U+000A2
HTML entity: &cent; – HTML code: &#162;
Used in many currencies, sometimes with a vertical line or no line
PC keystroke: ALT+0162

Checkmark – ✓

checkmark
Checkmark

Unicode: U+02713
HTML entity: &check; – HTML code: &#10003;
There is also a bold or heavy checkmark ✔ (HTML code: &#10004;)

Colon – :

colon sign
Colon

Unicode: U+0003A – ASCII: 58
HTML entity: &colon; – HTML code: &#58;
Punctuation mark that often precedes an explanation or a list

Comma – ,

comma sign
Comma

Unicode: U+0002C – ASCII: 44
HTML entity: &comma; – HTML code: &#44;
Punctuation mark that is among others used to separate parts of a sentence or list

copyright sign
Copyright

Unicode: U+000A9
HTML entity: &copy; – HTML code: &#169;
Symbol used in copyright notices
PC keystroke: ALT+0169 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+g

Curly Brackets – { }

left curly bracket
Left Curly Bracket

Left Curly Bracket
Unicode: U+0007B – ASCII: 123
HTML entity: &lbrace; – HTML code: &#123;
Also called the left brace

right curly bracket
Right Curly Bracket

Right Curly Bracket
Unicode: U+0007D – ASCII: 125
HTML entity: &rbrace; – HTML code: &#125;
Also called the right brace

Currency Sign – ¤

currency sign
Currency

Unicode: U+000A4
HTML entity: &curren; – HTML code: &#164;
Shorthand for a currency’s name, especially in reference to amounts of money
PC keystroke: ALT+0164

Daggers – † and ‡

dagger
Dagger

Dagger
Unicode: U+02020
HTML entity: &dagger; – HTML code: &#8224;
Typographical symbol to indicate a footnote (as an alternative to using asterisks)
PC keystroke: ALT+0134 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+T

double dagger
Double dagger

Double dagger
Unicode: U+02021
HTML entity: &Dagger; – HTML code: &#8225;
PC keystroke: ALT+0135

Degree – °

degree sign
Degree

Unicode: U+000B0
HTML entity: &deg; – HTML code: &#176;
PC keystroke: ALT+0176 – Mac keystroke: SHIFT+OPTION+8

Diaeresis or Umlaut – ¨

diaeresis sign
Diaeresis or Umlaut

Unicode: U+000A8
HTML entity: &uml;
Diacritic (glyph added to other characters as an accent, e.g. ë or Ä) that is called a diaeresis in languages like French or Spanish while it is called an umlaut in German. More on the difference can be found here.
PC keystroke: ALT+0168

Division Sign – ÷

division sign
Division Sign

Unicode: U+000F7
HTML entity: &divide; – HTML code: &#247;
Used to indicate mathematical division even though the ISO 80000-2 standard recommends using the solidus (/) for this.
PC keystroke: ALT+0247

Dollar Sign – $

dollar sign
Dollar Sign

Unicode: U+00024 – ASCII: 36
HTML entity: &dollar; – HTML code: &#36;
Also used for the Peso and other currencies

Ellipsis – …

ellipsis
Ellipsis

Unicode: U+02026
HTML entity: &hellip; – HTML code: &#8230;
Also called the triple-dot or suspension point. More info at Wikipedia
PC keystroke: ALT+0133 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+;

EM Dash

em dash
Em Dash

Unicode: U+02014
HTML entity: &mdash; – HTML code: &#8212;
PC keystroke: ALT+0151 – Mac keystroke: SHIFT+ALT+hyphen

EN Dash – —

en dash
En Dash

Unicode: U+02013
HTML entity: &ndash; – HTML code: &#8211;
Punctuation mark that is mostly used to show ranges in numbers and dates (e.g. the years 1914–1918)
PC keystroke: ALT+0150 – Mac keystroke: ALT+hyphen

Equals Sign – =

Equal Sign

Unicode: U+0003D – ASCII: 61
HTML entity: &equals; – HTML code: &#61;
Mathematical symbol used to indicate equality. Also named the equality sign

Euro Sign – €

euro
Euro Sign

Unicode: U+020AC
HTML entity: &euro; – HTML code: &#8364;
Used for the euro, the official currency of most European countries
PC keystroke: ALT+0128

Exclamation Mark – !

exclamation mark
Exclamation Mark

Unicode: U+00021 – ASCII: 33
HTML entity: &excl; – HTML code: &#33;
Also called the exclamation point
Punctuation mark used to indicate strong feelings or high volume, or to show emphasis, often at the end of a sentence

Female Sign – ♀

female sign
Female Sign

Unicode: U+002640
HTML entity: &female; – HTML code: &#9792;
PC keystroke: ALT+12

Fractions – ½ ⅓ ¼ ⅔ ¾

fraction one half
One Half

One half fraction – ½
Unicode: U+000BD – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &frac12; – HTML code: &#189;
PC keystroke: ALT+0189 or ALT+171

fraction one quarter
One Quarter

One quarter fraction – ¼
Unicode: U+000BC
HTML entity: &frac14; – HTML code: &#188;
PC keystroke: ALT+0188 or ALT+172

fraction one third
One Third

One third fraction – ⅓
Unicode: U+02153
HTML entity: &frac13; – HTML code: &#8531;

three quarters fraction
Three Quarters

Three quarters fraction – ¾
Unicode: U+000BE
HTML entity: &frac34; – HTML code: &#190;

two thirds
Two thirds

Two thirds fraction – ⅔
Unicode: U+02154
HTML entity: &frac23; – HTML code: &#8532;
PC keystroke: ALT+0190

Full Stop – .

full stop
Full Stop

Unicode: U+0002E – ASCII: 46
HTML entity: &period; – HTML code: &#46;
Also called the period.

Grave Accent – `

grave accent
Grave Accent

Unicode: U+00060
Also called the backtick.
PC keystroke: ALT+96

Greater Than Sign – >

greater than
Greater Than Sign

Unicode: U+0003E – ASCII: 62
HTML entity: &gt; – HTML code: &#62;

Hyphen – –

hyphen
Hyphen

Unicode: U+02010
HTML entity: &hyphen; – HTML code: &#8208;
Punctuation mark used to join words, and to separate syllables of a single word.
Different from and slightly shorter than the dashes, like the en-dash (–), and the minus sign (-)

Identical To Sign – ≡

identical to
Identical To Sign

Unicode: U+02261
HTML entity: &equiv; – HTML code: &#8801;
Also called the triple bar sign.
There is also a not identical to sign (≢ – HTML entity: &nequiv; – HTML code: &#8808;)

Infinity – ∞

infinity
Infinity

Unicode: U+0221E
HTML entity: &infin; – HTML code: &#8734;

Interrobang – ‽

Interrobang
Interrobang

Unicode: U+0203D
HTML code: &#8253;
Also called the bang or interabang and represented by ?!, !?, ?!? or !?!
Punctuation mark used to expresses excitement or disbelief, or to ask a rhetorical question

Inverted Exclamation Mark – ¡

inverted excalamation mark
Inverted Exclamation Mark

Unicode: U+000A1
HTML entity: &iexcl; – HTML code: &#161;
Also called the upside down exclamation mark
PC keystroke: ALT+0161

Inverted Question Mark – ¿

inverted question mark
Inverted Question Mark

Unicode: U+000BF
HTML entity: &iquest; – HTML code: &#191;
Also called the upside down question mark
PC keystroke: ALT+0191

Less Than Sign – <

less than
Less Than Sign

Unicode: U+0003C – ASCII: 60
HTML entity: &lt; – HTML code: &#60;

Less Than Or Equal To Sign – ≤

less than or equal to
Less Than Or Equal To Sign

Unicode: U+02264 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &le; – HTML code: &#8804;

Lozenge – ◊

lozenge
Lozenge Sign

Unicode: U+025CA
HTML entity: &loz; – HTML code: &#9674;
Also called the diamond, rhombus or thin rhombus
PC keystroke: ALT+4 for the black or filled lozenge

Male Sign – ♂

male sign
Male Sign

Unicode: U+02642 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &male; – HTML code: & #9794;
PC keystroke: ALT+11

Micro – µ

micro
Micro Sign

Unicode: U+000B5 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &micro; – HTML code: &#181;
This is the Greek letter mu.
PC keystroke: ALT+0181 – Mac keystroke: ALT+M

Minus – –

minus sign
Minus Sign

Unicode: U+02212 – ASCII: 45
HTML entity: &minus; – HTML code: &#8722;
Math symbol used for subtraction as well as the notion of negative
PC keystroke: ALT+45

More Than Or Equal To Sign – ≥

more than or equal to
More than or Equal To Sign

Unicode: U+02265 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &ge; – HTML code: &#8805;

Multiplication Sign – ×

multiplication
Multiplication Sign

Unicode: U+000D7 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &times; – HTML code: &#215;
Also called the times sign or the dimension sign and different from the lower case ‘x’.
PC keystroke: ALT+0215

Not Sign – ¬

not sign
Not Sign

Unicode: U+000AC
HTML entity: &not; – HTML code: &#172;
Also called the negation sign
PC keystroke: ALT+0172

Not Equal To Sign – ≠

not equal to sign
Not Equal To Sign

Unicode: U+02260 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &ne; – HTML code: &#8800;
Mac keystroke: OPTION+=
Sign used to indicate that two quantities, expressions or equations are not equal. This is not called the ‘slash equal’ sign.

Number Sign – #

number sign
Number Sign

Unicode: U+00023 – ASCII: 35
Also referred to as the pound, hash or octothorp sign

OE ligatures – œ and Œ

lowercase oe ligature
Lowercase oe

Lowercase oe
Unicode: U+00153
HTML entity: &oelig; – HTML code: &#339;
PC keystroke: ALT+0156

uppercase oe ligature
Uppercase oe

Uppercase oe
Unicode: U+00152
HTML entity: &OElig; – HTML code: &#338;
PC keystroke: ALT+0140

Ohm Sign – Ω

ohm sign
Ohm

Unicode: U+02126
HTML code: &#8486;
Identical to the greek capital letter omega

Parenthesis – ( )

left parenthesis
Left Parenthesis

Left Parenthesis
Unicode: U+00028 – ASCII: 40
HTML entity: &lpar; – HTML code: &#40;
Punctuation mark used to enclose information
Also referred to as the left round bracket or left curved bracket or opening bracket (in the UK)

right parenthesis
Right Parenthesis

Right Parenthesis
Unicode: U+00029 – ASCII: 41
HTML entity: &rpar; – HTML code: &#41;
Punctuation mark used to enclose information
Also referred to as the right round bracket or right curved bracket or closing bracket (in the UK)

Percent Sign – %

percent sign
Percent

Unicode: U+00025 – ASCII: 37
HTML entity: &percnt; – HTML code: &#37;
Symbol used to indicate a percentage, a number or ratio as a fraction of 100.
Also called the percentage sign

Per Mille Sign – ‰

per mille sign
Per Mille Sign

Unicode: U+02030
HTML entity: &permil; – HTML code: &#8240;
Symbol used to indicate parts per 1000.
Also called the per mil or per mille sign
PC keystroke: ALT+0137

Per Ten Thousand Sign – ‱

per ten thousand
Per ten thousand

Unicode: U+02031
HTML entity: &pertenk; – HTML code: &#8241;
Symbol used to indicate parts per 10000.
PC keystroke: ALT+0137

Pilcrow Sign – ¶

Pilcrow Sign
Pilcrow Sign

Unicode: U+000B6
HTML entity: &para; – HTML code: &#182;
Also called the paragraph mark, paraph or alinea
PC keystroke: ALT+0182 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+7

Plus Sign – +

plus sign
Plus Sign

Unicode: U+0002B – ASCII: 43
HTML entity: &plus; – HTML code: &#43;
Math symbol used for addition as well as the notion of positive

Plus Minus Sign – ±

plus minus
Plus-Minus Sign

Unicode: U+000B1
HTML entity: &plusmn; – HTML code: &#177;
Mathematical symbol with multiple meanings, also referred to as give or take.
PC keystroke: ALT+0177

Pound Sign – £

pound
Pound Sign

Unicode: U+000A3 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &pound; – HTML code: &#163;
In the US, the ‘pound sign’ refers to the number sign (#). There’s also a double dash version: ₤
PC keystroke: ALT+0163 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+3

Question Mark – ?

question mark
Question Mark

Unicode: U+0003F – ASCII: 63
HTML entity: &quest; – HTML code: &#63;
Punctuation mark to indicate an interrogative clause or phrase

Quotation Marks – ” ‹ › « »

There are regular and angled quotation marks. These punctuation marks are used for quotations in a number of languages.

quotation mark
Quotation Mark

Unicode: U+00022 – ASCII: 34
HTML entity: &quot; – HTML code: &#34;
Also called the double quote. Typographers usually prefer separate left and right double quotation marks. These look like this: “ ”. Left and right single quotation marks also exist: ‘ ’. Then there are two so-called low-9 variants: ‚ „ and a double high-reversed-9 quotation mark: ‟.

Single angle quotation marks

Left Single Angle Quotation Mark

Left pointing single angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+02039
HTML entity: &lsaquo; – HTML code: &#8249;
Not to be confused with the ‘smaller than’ sign (<)

Right Single Angle Quotation Mark

Right pointing single angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+0203A
HTML entity: &rsaquo; – HTML code: &#8250;
Not to be confused with the ‘greater than’ sign (>)

Double angle quotation marks

Double angle quotation marks are also called guillemets or double chevrons

left angle double quotation mark
Left Double Angle Quotation Mark

Left pointing double angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+000AB
HTML entity: &laquo; – HTML code: &#171;
PC keystroke: ALT+0171

right pointing double angle quotation
Right Double Angle Quotation Mark

Right pointing double angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+000BB
HTML entity: &raquo; – HTML code: &#187;
PC keystroke: ALT+0187

Registered Sign – ®

registered
Registered Sign

Unicode: U+000AE – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &reg; – HTML code: &#174;
Also called the Racol.
PC keystroke: ALT+0174 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+R

Ruble – ₽

ruble
Ruble Sign

Unicode: U+020BD
HTML code: &#8318;
Used for the ruble or rouble, the currency of Russia

Rupee – ₹

rupee
Indian Rupee Sign

Unicode: U+020B9
HTML code: &#8377;
Used for the rupee, the currency of India. There is a second sign for the rupee: ₨ (Unicode: U+20A8, HTML code: &#8360;). It is used by other countries that also use a rupee, such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal

Section Sign – §

section
Section Sign

Unicode: U+000A7 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: &sect; – HTML code: &#167;
PC keystroke: ALT+0167

Semicolon – ;

semicolon
Semicolon

Unicode: U+0003B – ASCII: 59
HTML entity: &semi; – HTML code: &#59;

Slash – /

slash
Solidus

Unicode: U+0002F – ASCII: 47
HTML entity: &sol; – HTML code: &#47;
Also called the forward slash or stroke (UK).
In Unicode it is called the solidus even though that glyph is less vertical.

Square Brackets – [ ]

left square bracket
Left Bracket

Left Bracket
Unicode: U+0005B – ASCII: 91
HTML entity: &lbrack; – HTML code: &#91;
Also called the left crotchet or opening bracket (in the USA)

right square bracket
Right Bracket

Right Bracket
Unicode: U+0005D – ASCII: 93
HTML entity: &rbrack; – HTML code: &#93;
Also called the right crotchet or closing bracket (in the USA)

Superscript One – ¹

superscript one
Superscript One

Unicode: U+000B9
HTML entity: &sup1; – HTML code: &#185;
PC keystroke: ALT+0185

Superscript Two – ²

superscript two
Superscript Two

Unicode: U+000B2
HTML entity: &sup2; – HTML code: &#178;
PC keystroke: ALT+0178

Superscript Three – ³

superscript three
Superscript Three

Unicode: U+000B9
HTML entity: &sup3; – HTML code: &#179;
PC keystroke: ALT+0179

Tilde – ~

tilde
Tilde

Unicode: U+0007E
HTML entity: &tilde; – HTML code: &#126;
Also called the swung dash, squiggly or twiddle.
PC keystroke: ALT+0126
Used to indicate ‘approximately’ or ‘around’. It can also indicate ‘similar to’. In some languages, the tilde is placed over a letter to indicate a change in its pronunciation.

Trade Mark Sign – ™

trademark
Trade Mark Sign

Unicode: U+02122
HTML entity: &trade; – HTML code: &#8482;
Symbol to indicate that the preceding mark is an unregistered trademark. For registered trademarks ® is used.
PC keystroke: ALT+0153 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+2

Underscore – _

underscore
Low Line

Unicode: U+0005F – ASCII: 95
HTML entity: &lowbar; – HTML code: &#95;
Also known as the low line, low dash, or understrike glyph
PC keystroke: ALT+95

Vertical Line – |

vertical line
Vertical Line

Unicode: U+0007C – ASCII: 124
HTML entity: &vert; – HTML code: &#124;
Also called the pipe, piping symbol, Sheffer stroke, vertical slash, think colon or divider line.
Symbol that is commonly encountered in statements involving logic and sets
PC keystroke: ALT+124

Yen Sign – ¥

yen
Yen Sign

Unicode: U+000A5
HTML entity: &yen; – HTML code: &#165;
Also used for the Chinese Yuan currency
PC keystroke: ALT+0165 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+Y

Other sources of information

I like the overviews of TopTal Designers, Penn State and Keynote Support

96 thoughts on “List of character, symbol & sign names”

  1. The # is called a Octothorp. Just because we call it a number sign doesn’t mean that’s the name of the symbol.

    Reply

    1. The note at the bottom of the # entry states that it is also known as an Octothorp.

  2. Google couldn’t tell me the meaning of a character ON ITS OWN Gboard (Google keyboard). ¥
    Wikipedia couldn’t answer either.
    What’s the point of a symbol if nobody knows what it means? And while I’m at it, what the F is wrong with humans right now? Lol not lol
    THANK YOU

    Reply

  5. This was very informative and entertaining. It inspired the following Facebook post, if you’re interested (I dug into the history of some of the odd names a little):

    Reply

  6. This site is so fun to read – & all the comments. Lots of interesting information.
    Thank you Laurens & to all the ‘reply’ contributors. I’ve learned lots of things here. For example: left & right “Javanese rerenggan symbols” which led me to even more novel climes.
    With great appreciation for your passion,
    …mathew

    Reply

    1. It is actually the symbol of both the Japanese yen and the yuan, the basic unit of the renminbi which is the Chinese currency.

  8. Good morning. I don’t like some of the names expressed either. Especially since I don’t have one notably.

    Reply

  10. Thanks for compiling all of this useful information.

    Question: Is “at sign” the ONLY name for the @ symbol? I know that this symbol existed before it’s use in email addresses. Was this symbol only used to replace writing/typing such a short word as “at?”

    Thanks again,
    Nichole.

    Reply

    2. Here (Germany) it’s also called “staple monkey” or “clamp monkey” which is the humorous word for a stapler or stitcher (the device, not the profession). That name was rather common in pre-PC times when mainframes were the computers one was more likely to come across. Elsewhere (Netherlands) they call it “monkey tail”.

    3. In Sweden it’s just as common to call it “snabel-a” as it is calling it “at”, snabel meaning an elephant’s trunk.

      Some others choose to call the @ symbol “kanelbulle”, which is the Swedish word for cinnamon roll.

    1. Restricted & cents, As in the number to the right of the decimal in a dollar amount.

    1. alt-232 renders Φ
      Personally, I use Autohotkey to avoid having to remember ASCII codes. My symbol for Φ is “phij” and the code is simply

      ::phij::Φ

      Whenever I type “phij” followed by a space, Φ appears.
      It’s a cool number.
      Φ² = Φ + 1
      1/Φ = Φ – 1
      That alone is sort of freaky.

    2. I love Autohotkey – it makes it easy to type accented characters using a QWERTY keyboard.

    1. That is an emoticon to indicate that you are sad or angry or that you frown upon something

    1. That is the replacement character. I have no idea how to type it directly.

    1. that sign is called a exclamation point, now you use it when you are exited or you are writing a sentence and you want the person to read it louder. you can also use it for when you are mad and you want it to show you are mad if you make the letters CAPITAL and add ! this then you are really mad: ex, ” Sarah! i just found out that we can go to Disney!” or when you are texting, hey!!!, or when you are mad i hate you right now!, or really mad HOW DARE YOU!!!!!

    2. that sign is called a exclamation point, ex, ” Sarah! i just found out that we can go to Disney!” or when you are texting, hey!!!, or when you are mad i hate you right now!, or really mad HOW DARE YOU!!!!!
      it is used to show strong emotion, loud volume

  26. Woah, this helped me a lot. I will bookmark this page so if I forgot this, I will review it. This is a good example for kids. I will bookmark this on my laptop.

    Reply

  29. What is a ~ used for and why does no0 one even give a definition for this character. Android uses this character to denote something about the number of days something is used as a Notification. Example:
    ~ 7 notifications per day. What does that mean and why is it even telling me that when I don’t control how many per day. Is this greater or less than? Wrong character.

    Reply

    1. I know you don’t have anything to say about this, but I have to mention this. Google the information king is not the King anymore. Yep, they do not even find and ignore the ~ character if you put it in a question. What is the ~ character used for returns nothing about ~ It is ignored. Way to go Google, maybe too many foreign workers eyh?

    2. The tilde is used to indicate ‘approximately’ or ‘around’. So ‘~ 7 notifications per day’ indicates an average of 7 notifications per day.

    4. In Spanish it is used over an “n”. For example in Spanish, Canyon is spelled Canon with a tilde over the first “n”.

    2. I believe they are called “quine” or corner brackets, and are used to mark the edges of images. I also discovered that they are used as Quotation Marks in languages like Chinese & Japanese.

  33. Dear Sir/Mdm, good day to you! What is the ALT code for:-
    1) inverted caret sign
    2) subscript of 2
    Thanks and I looking forward to hearing from you soon!!
    Warmest regards,
    K.A.CHIA

    Reply

  36. The opening section shows an “opening single quotation mark” but links to the Apostrophe section.

    The Apostrophe section describes the apostrophe as using the same symbol as the “closing single quotation mark” which is correct. However, the symbol shown is neither – it is a one-size-fits-all variant. The version in the heading of the Apostrophe section is different again, but more like the opening single quotation mark.

    However, much of this summary was helpful. I learned a few things. Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the feedback. I fixed the issue with the wrong character showing in the intro. I think the wrong character got inserted by the autocorrect function of the online spell checker I use. Opening and closing marks still need to be added to this page.

  37. I just ran across an odd one that I have never seen before…it is on a Remington typewriter… a cent symbol [¢] but backwards. Any idea what that might be?

    Thanks,
    Cindy

    Reply

  40. The solidus “/” seems to have undergone a change since the internet came along.
    Before the internet, Microsoft DOS came along, and it uses “\” as its path separator.
    It was common to say “Backslash” and make my students understand what I meant, because the “slash” was rarely used in the (at-least my own) computer world.
    Then along came the internet, which of course uses the “/” as a path separator.
    Now, I find each and every student asking for clarification when I say “slash”, and not just a few times, but each and every time since the internet started. They ask, “Do you mean Forward Slash or Backward Slash?”, which, until recent days, were both incorrect. But now the “Slash” is readily called the “Forward Slash”, and the “Backslash” is readily called the “Backward Slash”.

    Reply

    1. Yes, DOS, and now Windows, use the backslash “\” as the path separators, however Unix and Linux (plus others, including macOS I believe) use the forward slash “/” as the path separators.
      Most web servers run Linux and so I’m assuming web browsers continued this convention of using the forward slash to denote paths.

  41. Thanks for this – it’s bookmarked! What’s a “libra” symbol as noted in the “Almost Equal To” definition?

    Reply

    1. It is this one: ♎. Libra is a zodiac sign, normally represented by weighing scales. A balance does refer to things being equal, so in that sense I understand its use in a similar fashion to ‘Almost equal to’. I copied this from some reference page but did not find any other sources confirming this use case. That is why I now removed the reference from this page.

    2. That string contains two of the ‘Javanese rerenggan’ symbols—the left (꧁) and right (꧂) versions, aptly named thus.

  44. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro which I ordered with a Hiragana keyboard. I prefer the Geneva font for most English work, but can’t determine how to create a ¥ glyph with it. The keyboard has a ¥ key, and it creates the ¥ glyph in other fonts. But using Geneva, that key produces a \ glyph. So does option + y.

    The ¥ glyph is within Geneva, and I have a sample of it which I can paste into text. But thus far I’ve been unable to determine how to create it with my Hiragana keyboard (in roman character mode).

    Does anyone know how to do it?

    Thanks bunches!

    Reply

  46. Yes! Let me add my “Thanks” Laurens!As you can see I use the Ø char. frequently. Ham radio operators use that to distinguish the zero from a cap. o I keep a couple of the keyboard codes written on the bottom of my keyboard for quick access. It would be nice if the valuable tools you’ve provided could be put in a ‘printable’ form, perhaps in columns on a single sheet, front & back. Thanks again Laurens and Merry Christmas 2011 (or happy Hanukkah. as the case may be.) *<:-{ <= that's a Santa.

    Floyd.

    Reply

    1. I never heard it called “Hash” until Twitter came along. Until then, it was always called a “Hash Mark”

    2. Merriam-Webster has an interesting write-up on the octothorpe (which we spell with a terminal e): “A versatile symbol with many names (among them hash mark, number sign, and pound sign), the octothorpe has become popularized in hashtags, those words or phrases prefixed by the symbol on Twitter and other social media especially to classify or categorize the accompanying text. The octothorpe is believed to have been adopted by the telecommunications industry with the advent of touch-tone dialing in the 1960s, but it remains unknown how, exactly, the symbol got its odd name. The octo- part almost certainly refers to the eight points on the symbol, but the -thorpe bit is mysterious. One story links it to a telephone company employee who happened to burp while talking about the symbol with coworkers. Another relates it to the athlete Jim Thorpe and the campaign to restore posthumously his Olympic medals, which were taken away after it was discovered that he played baseball professionally previous to the 1912 Games. A third claims it derives from an Old English word for “village.””
      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/octothorpe

  51. Tilde is used in Spanish for marking the ‘en-yay’ character as used in ‘señor’. ‘Say-nyor’.

    Not same as ‘n’. For example, ‘mañana’ (tomorrow) uses both ‘n’ forms.

    Reply

  52. Waoh, this is so helpful. I had assumed a lot didnt know what some of these signs mean. However, could you help tell me what the sign ’tilde’ means, I have seen it used seeverally.

    Thanks/Janet

    Reply

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