Obelus
Historical manuscript symbol / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An obelus (plural: obeluses or obeli) is a term in codicology and latterly in typography that refers to a historical annotation mark which has resolved to three modern meanings:
- Division sign ÷
- Dagger †
- Commercial minus sign ⁒ (limited geographical area of use)
÷ † ⁒ ⸓ | |
---|---|
Modern forms of the obelus | |
In Unicode | U+00F7 ÷ DIVISION SIGN U+2020 † DAGGER U+2052 ⁒ COMMERCIAL MINUS SIGN U+2E13 ⸓ DOTTED OBELOS |
Different from | |
Different from | U+0025 % PERCENT SIGN |
Related | |
See also | U+261E ☞ WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX |
The word "obelus" comes from ὀβελός (obelós), the Ancient Greek word for a sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar.[1] This is the same root as that of the word 'obelisk'.[2]
In mathematics, the first symbol is mainly used in Anglophone countries to represent the mathematical operation of division and is called an obelus.[3] In editing texts, the second symbol, also called a dagger mark † is used to indicate erroneous or dubious content;[4][5] or as a reference mark or footnote indicator.[6] It also has other uses in a variety of specialist contexts.