Notation
Every character page carries annotations drawn from the Unicode NamesList, each led by a marker. Here is what those markers mean.
| Marker | Name | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| = | alias | An informative alternate name or synonym for the character. | U+2102 ℂ = the set of complex numbers |
| ※ | formal alias | A normative correction to an erroneous formal name; carries the authority the name itself lacks. | U+2118 ℘ ※ WEIERSTRASS ELLIPTIC FUNCTION (its formal name, SCRIPT CAPITAL P, is wrong) |
| • | note | An informative remark about the character's use, identity, or history. | U+2126 Ω • preferred representation is U+03A9 |
| → | cross-reference | A pointer to a related character worth comparing, or not confusing this one with. | U+2260 ≠ → U+003D EQUALS SIGN |
| ≡ | canonical decomposition | The character is canonically equivalent to this sequence of codepoints. | U+2260 ≠ ≡ U+003D U+0338 |
| ≈ | compatibility decomposition | The character has the same abstract meaning as this sequence, in a specific presentation named by the format tag. | U+2102 ℂ ≈ ⟨font⟩ U+0043 C |
| ~ | variation sequence | A standardized alternate appearance, selected by following the character with a variation selector. | U+2268 ≨ ~ U+2268 U+FE00 (with vertical stroke) |
Compatibility format tags
A compatibility decomposition (≈) names how its presentation differs from the plain sequence, with one of these tags.
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| <font> | A font or style variant (blackletter, script, double-struck…). |
| <noBreak> | A non-breaking version of a space or hyphen. |
| <super> | A superscript form. |
| <sub> | A subscript form. |
| <fraction> | A vulgar-fraction form. |
| <circle> | An encircled form. |
| <square> | A form enclosed in a square (often a CJK unit). |
| <wide> | A fullwidth form. |
| <narrow> | A halfwidth form. |
| <small> | A small form (small-form-variants block). |
| <vertical> | A glyph for vertical text layout. |
| <initial> | An Arabic initial (word-start) positional form. |
| <medial> | An Arabic medial (word-internal) positional form. |
| <final> | An Arabic final (word-end) positional form. |
| <isolated> | An Arabic isolated (standalone) positional form. |
| <compat> | An otherwise-unspecified compatibility variant. |