See also: ✱,
ᚕ,
٭,
𐠂,
𐠀,
★,
✶,
✴,
꙳,
ᕯ, and ⁂
More information Text style, Emoji style ...
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| Text style is forced with ⟨︎⟩ and emoji style with ⟨️⟩. |
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Symbol
* (English symbol name asterisk)
- (alchemy) Sal ammoniac (6 or 8 point).
- (astronomy) A star (5 or 6 point).
- (Internet slang) Alternative form of * * (“encloses an interpretation”)
I can't see anything! – Hold on a second… *turns the light on
- (computing) Used as a multiplication symbol; ×.
- (regular expressions) Used as a wildcard to detect zero or more occurrences of the preceding element.
The string ab*c matches “ac”, “abc”, “abbc”, “abbbc”, and so on.
- (mathematics)
- (algebra) Complex or transpose conjugate; conjugate.
- (algebra, computer science) Free monoid or Kleene star.
In the language defined by AB*A, each string starts with an A, ends with a distinct A, and between them has zero or more Bs.
- (linear algebra, functional analysis) Dual space.
- (meteorology) Snow (6 point).
- (particle physics) Used to designate a resonance.
- (IPA) a reserved symbol with no set meaning, that needs to be defined by the transcriber. May be used as a letter or as a diacritic.
- (linguistics)
- (descriptive linguistics) Used before a term (such as a word, phrase, or sentence) to show that it is grammatically incorrect, or in some other way ill-formed.
- Coordinate term: **
English prepositions come before the associated noun: we say She lives in Rome, not *She lives Rome in.
Roots like *bep- were not allowed in Proto-Indo-European.
- (historical linguistics) Used before or after a term to denote that it is only hypothesized and not actually attested.
- When used before a term: that the term has been reconstructed by a linguist, on the basis of comparative method or by comparing other reconstructed terms, as the plausible ancestor form of an existing, attested term in one or more languages.
- Coordinate term: **
His theory of the Proto-Slavic *kъniga being ultimately derived from Chinese, via the middle form *kūinig, reflecting ancient routes of cultural influx from the East, has not gained a firm ground in the Slavicist circles in the last century.
- When used after a term: that the term is actually attested, but not in its citation form that is being mentioned.
PIE *ḱonk- yielded Vedic śaṅk-ate “worries, hesitates”, as well as pre-Germanic *kank-, whence also Gothic hāhan* “to hang”.
- When used before a symbol representing a phoneme: that the phoneme is reconstructed on the basis of comparative method.
Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives: */f/, */þ/, and */h/.
- When used before a symbol representing a sound value: that the sound value is hypothesized.
Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives, possibly representing *[ɸ], *[θ], and *[x].
- (music) A pointing mark in Anglican chant, which marks a place in the text where an extra breath should be taken, resulting in a brief pause.
- Coordinate terms: |, ', :, ⋅, —, ‖, †
Synonyms
- (multiplication symbol): ×, x, ·
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “multiplication symbol”): :, /, ÷
Coordinate terms
- (multiplication symbol): +, -, /, %, ^, **
Derived terms
- * * (encloses text for emphasis)
- (astronomy): V*, Cl*
- (multiplication symbol): **
- (wildcard): *.*
- (linguistics): **
Punctuation mark
*
- Used to censor sections of obscene or profane words.
- (Internet slang) Used to censor non-offensive words to treat them as insulting or profane.
wh*te "people"
- Used in a dictionary or similar work to indicate a cross-reference to another entry.
2014, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd edition (in English), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 25:analysis The process of breaking up *words, *phrases, *clauses, *sentences, *constructions, etc. into their *constituent parts.
- Used at the beginning of a footnote, especially if it is the only one on the page, and after a word, phrase, or sentence that this footnote relates to.
- (by extension) Used at the beginning of a clarifying statement or disclaimer, especially if it is the only one on the page.
2022 August 5, “Monkeypox 2022 U.S. Map & Case Count”, in [United States] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, archived from the original on 2022-08-05:Total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases: 7,102
*One Florida case is listed here but included in the United Kingdom case counts because the individual was tested while in the UK.
- (cricket) Used to marks a score or statistic that is incomplete, such as the score of a batsman who is (or was) not out.
- (chiefly computing) Uses especially in computing.
- Used as a wildcard to denote zero or more characters.
- trans* ― transgender or transsexual
- (Internet) Used to indicate a field of a form that must be filled out.
- (Internet slang) Used before or after a word to show a correction has been made, chiefly by the same participant.
I'm our of time. / *out
- (genealogy) Used before a date to denote that it is a birthdate.
- Used to indicate emphasis, see * *.
- Used to form a dinkus, * * *, or asterism, ⁂.
Usage notes
- The English names of the mark are asterisk and star.
- In Internet slang, when two or more corrections are made, one may add a * with each correction.
I just got back from Sarcamento / *Sacarmento / **Sacramento
Synonyms
- (in censoring): ■, —
- (footnote): †, ‡, §, ‖, ¶
- (as wildcard): %
- (genealogy): °
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “genealogy”): † / ✝ / + (French)
Coordinate terms
- (beginning a footnote): †, ‡, **, [numbers]
- (as wildcard): ?
- (genealogy): ⚭ / ✕, ⚮, ⚵ (German)
- (grammatically incorrect): ?
