What is a character and a symbol?

In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language.

What is the '@' symbol called?

On the Internet, @ (pronounced "at" or "at sign" or "address sign") is the symbol in an E-mail address that separates the name of the user from the user's Internet address, as in this hypothetical e-mail address example: [email protected].

What are the names of symbols?

This article contains special characters. Symbol Name of the symbol Similar glyphs or concepts ≈ Almost equal to Tilde, Double hyphen & Ampersand plus sign ⟨ ⟩ Angle brackets Bracket, Parenthesis, Greater-than sign, Less-than sign, Guillemet ' ' Apostrophe Quotation mark, Guillemet, Prime, Grave 90 more rows

What are the 4 types of symbols?

summary representation ideogram Represents actions, ideas, or concepts icon Represents objects and/or their functions rebus Represents sounds, words, or parts of words with pictures phonogram Represents a spoken sound 7 more rows

What is this symbol (~)?

IPA guide. Other forms: tildes. A tilde is a character on a keyboard that looks like a wavy line (~). The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters instead of the English 26, because it includes both n and ñ, each of which is pronounced differently.

What's an example of a symbol?

Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas, or visual images and are used to convey other ideas and beliefs. For example, a red octagon is a common symbol for "STOP"; on maps, blue lines often represent rivers; and a red rose often symbolizes love and compassion.

What is a character example?

You use character to say what kind of person someone is. For example, if you say that someone is a strange character, you mean they are strange. It's that kind of courage and determination that makes him such a remarkable character. What a sad character that Nigel is.

How do you name a character?

Names must be deliberate and memorable, distinct. Too many characters with similar names—even names that start with the same first letter—and readers can be confused. Names also need to make sense for the location, time, and tone of the story.

What are special characters called?

Also known as accent marks or accented characters. A special character refers to any character outside the 26 letters used in US English such as à, é, î, œ, ü, ñ, and sometimes ÿ.

What are special characters on letters called?

Diacritics, often loosely called `accents', are the various little dots and squiggles which, in many languages, are written above, below or on top of certain letters of the alphabet to indicate something about their pronunciation.

What are the names of special characters?

Special characters usage in Password creation Special Character Name of Special Character Unicode ^ Caret or Circumflex U + 005E & Ampersand U + 0026 * Asterisk U + 002A ( Open parenthesis U + 0028 28 more rows

Characters names | What a symbol and sign is called (2024)

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
Unicode: U+000E6
HTML entity: æ – HTML code: æ
PC keystroke: ALT+0230

Uppercase ae
Unicode: U+000C8
HTML entity: Æ – HTML code: Æ
PC keystroke: ALT+0198

Almost Equal To – ≈

Unicode: U+02248
HTML entity: ≈ – HTML code: ≈
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 – &

Unicode: U+00026 – ASCII: 38
HTML entity: & – HTML code: &
Logogram derived fromthe letterset – Latinfor ‘and’
PC keystroke: usually found in the top row

Angstrom – Å

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

Apostrophe – ‘

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

Approximately equal to – ≅

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

Asterisk – *

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

At Sign – @

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

Backslash – \

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

Broken Vertical Bar – ¦

Unicode: U+000A6
HTML entity: ¦ – HTML code: ¦
PC keystroke: ALT+0166

Bullet – •

Unicode: U+02022
HTML entity: • – HTML code: •
PC keystroke: ALT+0149

Caret – ^

Unicode: U+0005E – ASCII: 94
HTML entity: &Hat; – HTML code: ^
Also called the hat, roof or house sign.
Used in mathematics to represent anexponent, 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

Unicode: U+000B8
HTML entity: ç 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 – ¢

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

Checkmark – ✓

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

Colon – :

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

Comma – ,

Unicode: U+0002C – ASCII: 44
HTML entity: , – HTML code: ,
Punctuationmark that is among others used to separate parts of a sentence or list

Copyright Sign – ©

Unicode: U+000A9
HTML entity: © – HTML code: ©
Symbolused incopyright notices
PC keystroke: ALT+0169 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+g

Curly Brackets – { }

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

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

Currency Sign – ¤

Unicode: U+000A4
HTML entity: ¤ – HTML code: ¤
Shorthand for acurrency’s name, especially in reference to amounts of money
PC keystroke: ALT+0164

Daggers – † and ‡

Dagger
Unicode: U+02020
HTML entity: &dagger; – HTML code: †
Typographical symbolto indicate afootnote(as an alternative to using asterisks)
PC keystroke: ALT+0134 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+T

Degree – °

Unicode: U+000B0
HTML entity: ° – HTML code: °
PC keystroke: ALT+0176 – Mac keystroke: SHIFT+OPTION+8

Diaeresis or Umlaut – ¨

Unicode: U+000A8
HTML entity: ¨
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 – ÷

Unicode: U+000F7
HTML entity: ÷ – HTML code: ÷
Used to indicatemathematical division even though theISO 80000-2standard recommends using thesolidus(/) for this.
PC keystroke: ALT+0247

Dollar Sign – $

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

Ellipsis – …

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

EM Dash

Unicode: U+02014
HTML entity: — – HTML code: —
PC keystroke: ALT+0151 – Mac keystroke: SHIFT+ALT+hyphen

EN Dash – —

Unicode: U+02013
HTML entity: – – HTML code: –
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 – =

Unicode: U+0003D – ASCII: 61
HTML entity: = – HTML code: =
Mathematical symbolused to indicateequality. Also named the equality sign

Euro Sign – €

Unicode: U+020AC
HTML entity: € – HTML code: €
Used for theeuro, the official currency of most European countries
PC keystroke: ALT+0128

Exclamation Mark – !

Unicode: U+00021 – ASCII: 33
HTML entity: &excl; – HTML code: !
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 – ♀

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

Fractions – ½ ⅓ ¼ ⅔ ¾

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

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

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

Three quarters fraction – ¾
Unicode: U+000BE
HTML entity: ¾ – HTML code: ¾

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

Full Stop – .

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

Grave Accent – `

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

Greater Than Sign – >

Unicode: U+0003E – ASCII: 62
HTML entity: > – HTML code: >

Hyphen – –

Unicode: U+02010
HTML entity: &hyphen; – HTML code: ‐
Punctuationmark used to joinwords, and to separatesyllablesof a single word.
Different from and slightly shorter than the dashes, like the en-dash (–), and the minus sign (-)

Identical To Sign – ≡

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

Infinity – ∞

Unicode: U+0221E
HTML entity: ∞ – HTML code: ∞

Interrobang – ‽

Unicode: U+0203D
HTML code: ‽
Also called the bang or interabang and represented by ?!,!?,?!?or!?!
Punctuation mark used to expresses excitement or disbelief, or to ask arhetorical question

Inverted Exclamation Mark – ¡

Unicode: U+000A1
HTML entity: ¡ – HTML code: ¡
Also called the upside down exclamation mark
PC keystroke: ALT+0161

Inverted Question Mark – ¿

Unicode: U+000BF
HTML entity: ¿ – HTML code: ¿
Also called the upside down question mark
PC keystroke: ALT+0191

Less Than Sign – <

Unicode: U+0003C – ASCII: 60
HTML entity: < – HTML code: <

Less Than Or Equal To Sign – ≤

Unicode: U+02264 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: ≤ – HTML code: ≤

Lozenge – ◊

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

Male Sign – ♂

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

Micro – µ

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

Minus – –

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

More Than Or Equal To Sign – ≥

Unicode: U+02265 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: ≥ – HTML code: ≥

Multiplication Sign – ×

Unicode: U+000D7 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: × – HTML code: ×
Also called the times signor thedimension sign and different from the lower case ‘x’.
PC keystroke: ALT+0215

Not Sign – ¬

Unicode: U+000AC
HTML entity: ¬ – HTML code: ¬
Also called the negation sign
PC keystroke: ALT+0172

Not Equal To Sign – ≠

Unicode: U+02260 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: ≠ – HTML code: ≠
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 – #

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

OE ligatures – œ and Œ

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

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

Ohm Sign – Ω

Unicode: U+02126
HTML code: Ω
Identical to the greek capital letter omega

Parenthesis – ( )

Left Parenthesis
Unicode: U+00028 – ASCII: 40
HTML entity: ( – HTML code: (
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
Unicode: U+00029 – ASCII: 41
HTML entity: ) – HTML code: )
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 – %

Unicode: U+00025 – ASCII: 37
HTML entity: &percnt; – HTML code: %
Symbol used to indicate apercentage, a number orratioas afractionof 100.
Also called the percentage sign

Per Mille Sign – ‰

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

Per Ten Thousand Sign – ‱

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

Pilcrow Sign – ¶

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

Plus Sign – +

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

Plus Minus Sign – ±

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

Pound Sign – £

Unicode: U+000A3 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: £ – HTML code: £
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 – ?

Unicode: U+0003F – ASCII: 63
HTML entity: &quest; – HTML code: ?
Punctuation markto indicate aninterrogativeclause or phrase

Quotation Marks – ” ‹ › « »

There are regular and angled quotation marks. These punctuation marks are used forquotationsin a number of languages.

Unicode: U+00022 – ASCII: 34
HTML entity: " – HTML code: "
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 pointing single angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+02039
HTML entity: &lsaquo; – HTML code: ‹
Not to be confused with the ‘smaller than’ sign (<)

Right pointing single angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+0203A
HTML entity: &rsaquo; – HTML code: ›
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 pointing double angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+000AB
HTML entity: « – HTML code: «
PC keystroke: ALT+0171

Right pointing double angle quotation mark
Unicode: U+000BB
HTML entity: » – HTML code: »
PC keystroke: ALT+0187

Registered Sign – ®

Unicode: U+000AE – ASCII: –
HTML entity: ® – HTML code: ®
Also called the Racol.
PC keystroke: ALT+0174 – Mac keystroke: OPTION+R

Ruble – ₽

Unicode: U+020BD
HTML code: ⁾
Used for the ruble or rouble, the currency of Russia

Rupee – ₹

Unicode: U+020B9
HTML code: ₹
Used for the rupee, the currency of India. There is a second sign for the rupee: ₨ (Unicode: U+20A8, HTML code: ₨). It is used by other countries that also use a rupee, such asSri Lanka,PakistanandNepal

Section Sign – §

Unicode: U+000A7 – ASCII: –
HTML entity: § – HTML code: §
PC keystroke: ALT+0167

Semicolon – ;

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

Slash – /

Unicode: U+0002F – ASCII: 47
HTML entity: / – HTML code: /
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 Bracket
Unicode: U+0005B – ASCII: 91
HTML entity: [ – HTML code: [
Also called the left crotchet or opening bracket (in the USA)

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

Superscript One – ¹

Unicode: U+000B9
HTML entity: ¹ – HTML code: ¹
PC keystroke: ALT+0185

Superscript Two – ²

Unicode: U+000B2
HTML entity: ² – HTML code: ²
PC keystroke: ALT+0178

Superscript Three – ³

Unicode: U+000B9
HTML entity: ³ – HTML code: ³
PC keystroke: ALT+0179

Tilde – ~

Unicode: U+0007E
HTML entity: &tilde; – HTML code: ~
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 – ™

Unicode: U+02122
HTML entity: ™ – HTML code: ™
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 – _

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

Vertical Line – |

Unicode: U+0007C – ASCII: 124
HTML entity: | – HTML code: |
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 – ¥

Unicode: U+000A5
HTML entity: ¥ – HTML code: ¥
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

Symbol	Name of the symbol	Similar glyphs or concepts
≈	Almost equal to	Tilde, Double hyphen
&	Ampersand	plus sign
⟨ ⟩	Angle brackets	Bracket, Parenthesis, Greater-than sign, Less-than sign, Guillemet
' '	Apostrophe	Quotation mark, Guillemet, Prime, Grave

	representation
ideogram	Represents actions, ideas, or concepts
icon	Represents objects and/or their functions
rebus	Represents sounds, words, or parts of words with pictures
phonogram	Represents a spoken sound

Special Character	Name of Special Character	Unicode
^	Caret or Circumflex	U + 005E
&	Ampersand	U + 0026
*	Asterisk	U + 002A
(	Open parenthesis	U + 0028