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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]
Some scholars used the obelus and various other critical symbols, in conjunction with a second symbol known as the metobelos ("end of obelus"), [15] variously represented as two vertically arranged dots, a γ-like symbol, a mallet-like symbol, or a diagonal slash (with or without one or two dots). They indicated the end of a marked passage.
The division sign (÷) is a mathematical symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, used in Anglophone countries to indicate the operation of division. This usage, though widespread in some countries, is not universal and the symbol has a different meaning in other countries.
The second is a link to the article that details that symbol, using its Unicode standard name or common alias. (Holding the mouse pointer on the hyperlink will pop up a summary of the symbol's function.); The third gives symbols listed elsewhere in the table that are similar to it in meaning or appearance, or that may be confused with it;
Greek letters are used in mathematics, science, engineering, and other areas where mathematical notation is used as symbols for constants, special functions, and also conventionally for variables representing certain quantities. In these contexts, the capital letters and the small letters represent distinct and unrelated entities.
An obelus (symbol: ÷ or †, plural: obeluses or obeli) is a symbol consisting of a short horizontal line with a dot above and another dot below, and in other uses it is a symbol resembling a small dagger. In mathematics it is mainly used to represent the mathematical operation of division. It is therefore commonly called the division sign.
A mathematical symbol is a figure or a combination of figures that is used to represent a mathematical object, an action on mathematical objects, a relation between mathematical objects, or for structuring the other symbols that occur in a formula. As formulas are entirely constituted with symbols of various types, many symbols are needed for ...
The obelus was introduced by Swiss mathematician Johann Rahn in 1659 in Teutsche Algebra. [10]: 211 The ÷ symbol is used to indicate subtraction in some European countries, so its use may be misunderstood. [11] In some non-English-speaking countries, a colon is used to denote division: [12]: