Did you know that the symbols on our keypad have individual names?

Today, we bring you some well-known symbols and their names.

Ampersand

The well-known curve of the and symbol is fairly well known. The name of this symbol is Ampersand.

Caret

On the computer keyboard, above the number 6, is a tiny symbol that looks like the peak of a mountain. This symbol is called caret. In many computer programs, we use it to indicate exponent or to the power of. For example, 2^3 means 2 to the power of 3 = 8.

Obelus

The term instantly reminds us of Obelix from Tintin comics, but this symbol is.. believe it or not, the well-known symbol for divided by!

Octothorpe

Octo means eight, and thorpe means a tiny village! The origin of this name is unknown, but when we look at the hash symbol, eight villages is the last thing that comes to mind. Octothorpe is the well-known hash symbol!

Asterism

We have used this symbol to say “Therefore” in mathematical proofs and personal notes.

Its called Asterism because originally, it was made up of 3 aster (*) symbols. (Yes, that star above the number 8 on your keyboard has a name too – its called aster).

Ellipsis

Those three dots that we put at the end of the sentence to indicate continued… is called ellipsis.

Pilcrow

This symbol, used to indicate a paragraph, is only visible when we turn it on in Microsoft Word to see all formatting and hidden characters.

Its called Pilcrow.

Tilde

This symbol is on the left side, either on top of the escape key or on top of the F1 key. It has no accepted usage in formal writing today.