Math Symbols: Names, Meanings and Copy Paste List

Q: What is the integration symbol called?

It is called the integral sign (∫). It was made from a long letter S for "sum". You type it in Word with 222B then Alt+X, or Option+B on a Mac.

Q: What is the difference between the union and intersection symbol?

Union (∪) joins two sets and keeps everything from both. Intersection (∩) keeps only the common elements. A simple way to remember: ∪ is like a cup that holds everything, ∩ is the overlap.

Q: What does the belongs to symbol ∈ mean?

It means "is an element of". Writing 4 ∈ A says 4 is one of the members of set A. The crossed version ∉ means does not belong to.

Q: What is the there exists symbol?

The there exists symbol is ∃, a backwards capital E. ∃x means "there is at least one x". Its partner ∀ (upside down A) means "for all".

Q: Is there a special symbol for the equal to sign?

The normal equal to symbol is the = key on every keyboard, next to Backspace. Related signs are ≠ (not equal), ≈ (approximately equal) and ≡ (identical to).

Q: Which symbol is used for subset?

⊂ is the subset symbol and ⊆ means subset or equal. Some books use ⊂ only for a proper subset (strictly smaller). The reverse signs ⊃ and ⊇ mean superset.

Math Symbols Copy and Paste

Plus

Unicode U+002B · HTML + · Alt code Alt+43

Tap any symbol to copy it. Each tap also adds it to the box above, so you can copy several together.

Codes for every symbol on this page (Unicode, HTML, Alt, Mac, Word)

Symbol	Name	Unicode	HTML	Windows Alt code	Mac	MS Word
+	Plus	`U+002B`	`+`	Alt+43	-	002B then Alt+X
−	Minus (true sign)	`U+2212`	`−`	-	-	2212 then Alt+X
×	Multiply	`U+00D7`	`×`	Alt+0215	-	00D7 then Alt+X
÷	Divide	`U+00F7`	`÷`	Alt+246, Alt+0247	Option+/	00F7 then Alt+X
=	Equal to	`U+003D`	`=`	Alt+61	-	003D then Alt+X
≠	Not equal to	`U+2260`	`≠`	-	Option+=	2260 then Alt+X
≈	Approximately equal	`U+2248`	`≈`	Alt+247	Option+X	2248 then Alt+X
±	Plus or minus	`U+00B1`	`±`	Alt+241, Alt+0177	Option+Shift+=	00B1 then Alt+X
<	Less than	`U+003C`	`<`	Alt+60	-	003C then Alt+X
>	Greater than	`U+003E`	`>`	Alt+62	-	003E then Alt+X
≤	Less than or equal	`U+2264`	`≤`	Alt+243	Option+Comma	2264 then Alt+X
≥	Greater than or equal	`U+2265`	`≥`	Alt+242	Option+Period	2265 then Alt+X
√	Square root	`U+221A`	`√`	Alt+251	Option+V	221A then Alt+X
∛	Cube root	`U+221B`	`∛`	-	-	221B then Alt+X
∞	Infinity	`U+221E`	`∞`	Alt+236	Option+5	221E then Alt+X
π	Pi	`U+03C0`	`π`	Alt+227	Option+P	03C0 then Alt+X
∑	Summation	`U+2211`	`∑`	-	Option+W	2211 then Alt+X
∫	Integral	`U+222B`	`∫`	-	Option+B	222B then Alt+X
∂	Partial derivative	`U+2202`	`∂`	-	Option+D	2202 then Alt+X
∆	Increment (delta)	`U+2206`	`∆`	-	Option+J	2206 then Alt+X
∴	Therefore	`U+2234`	`&there4;`	-	-	2234 then Alt+X
∵	Because	`U+2235`	`∵`	-	-	2235 then Alt+X
∝	Proportional to	`U+221D`	`&prop;`	-	-	221D then Alt+X
∠	Angle	`U+2220`	`&ang;`	-	-	2220 then Alt+X
⊥	Perpendicular	`U+22A5`	`&perp;`	-	-	22A5 then Alt+X
∥	Parallel	`U+2225`	`∥`	-	-	2225 then Alt+X
°	Degree	`U+00B0`	`°`	Alt+248, Alt+0176	Option+Shift+8	00B0 then Alt+X
%	Percent	`U+0025`	`%`	Alt+37	-	0025 then Alt+X
‰	Per mille	`U+2030`	`&permil;`	Alt+0137	Option+Shift+R	2030 then Alt+X
∈	Belongs to	`U+2208`	`∈`	-	-	2208 then Alt+X
∉	Does not belong to	`U+2209`	`∉`	-	-	2209 then Alt+X
⊂	Subset	`U+2282`	`⊂`	-	-	2282 then Alt+X
⊃	Superset	`U+2283`	`⊃`	-	-	2283 then Alt+X
∩	Intersection	`U+2229`	`∩`	Alt+239	-	2229 then Alt+X
∪	Union	`U+222A`	`∪`	-	-	222A then Alt+X
∅	Empty set	`U+2205`	`∅`	-	-	2205 then Alt+X
∀	For all	`U+2200`	`∀`	-	-	2200 then Alt+X
∃	There exists	`U+2203`	`∃`	-	-	2203 then Alt+X
¬	Not (negation)	`U+00AC`	`¬`	Alt+170, Alt+0172	Option+L	00AC then Alt+X
∧	Logical and	`U+2227`	`&and;`	-	-	2227 then Alt+X
∨	Logical or	`U+2228`	`&or;`	-	-	2228 then Alt+X
²	Squared	`U+00B2`	`²`	Alt+253, Alt+0178	-	00B2 then Alt+X
³	Cubed	`U+00B3`	`³`	Alt+0179	-	00B3 then Alt+X
½	One half	`U+00BD`	`½`	Alt+171, Alt+0189	-	00BD then Alt+X
¼	One quarter	`U+00BC`	`¼`	Alt+172, Alt+0188	-	00BC then Alt+X
¾	Three quarters	`U+00BE`	`¾`	Alt+0190	-	00BE then Alt+X

Math symbols are short signs that replace long words, so 5 + 3 = 8 is quicker to write than "five plus three is equal to eight". This page collects the maths symbols students meet from Class 6 to college: arithmetic, comparison, algebra, geometry, calculus, sets and logic.

Tap any symbol in the grid above to copy it, or open its own page for the full meaning and every way to type it. The tables below are grouped by topic, and each row has a name, a meaning and a small example you can check yourself.

Arithmetic and Comparison Symbols

These are the first maths symbols every child learns. The equal to symbol (=) says both sides have the same value. The comparison signs tell you which side is bigger.

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
+	Plus	add	7 + 2 = 9
−	Minus	subtract	7 − 2 = 5
×	Multiplication sign	multiply	6 × 4 = 24
÷	Division sign	divide	20 ÷ 4 = 5
=	Equals sign	is equal to	2 + 2 = 4
≠	Not equal to	is not equal to	3 ≠ 5
≈	Approximately equal	roughly equal	π ≈ 3.14
±	Plus-minus	plus or minus	x = ±3
>	Greater than	left side is bigger	9 > 4
<	Less than	left side is smaller	4 < 9
≥	Greater than or equal to	bigger or same	age ≥ 18
≤	Less than or equal to	smaller or same	marks ≤ 100
%	Percent	out of 100	25% of 80 = 20
½ ¼ ¾	Fractions	half, quarter, three quarters	½ kg = 500 g

Confused between > and <? Our greater than and less than guide has an easy trick to remember them. The 1/2 symbol (½) is a single character, so it is handy for recipes and price tags like "½ kg".

Algebra, Roots and Powers

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
√	Square root	number that multiplies by itself	√49 = 7
∛	Cube root	number used three times	∛27 = 3
² ³	Squared, cubed	power 2, power 3	5² = 25
∝	Proportional to	changes in the same ratio	y ∝ x
∞	Infinity	without end	x → ∞
\|x\|	Modulus (absolute value)	distance from zero	\|−7\| = 7
≡	Identical to	true for every value	(a + b)² ≡ a² + 2ab + b²
x̄	x bar	mean (average) of x values	x̄ of 2, 4, 6 is 4
σ²	Sigma squared	variance	σ² = 4 means σ = 2
∑	Summation (sigma)	add up a list	∑ of 1 to 4 = 10

The x bar symbol is an x with a line on top. In statistics, x̄ stands for the mean of a sample, σ (small sigma) is the standard deviation, and σ² is the variance symbol. The modulus symbol is just two straight bars around a number.

Geometry Symbols

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
∠	Angle	angle between two lines	∠ABC = 60°
°	Degree	unit of angle	a right angle is 90°
⊥	Perpendicular	meet at 90°	AB ⊥ CD
∥	Parallel	never meet	PQ ∥ RS
π	Pi	circumference ÷ diameter	area = πr²
⌀	Diameter	width of a circle through the centre	⌀20 mm
∴	Therefore	so, hence	∴ x = 5
∵	Because	since	∵ AB = AC

The radius symbol is usually just the letter r, as in A = πr². For engineering drawings and tolerance frames, see the GD&T symbols chart. For heights written as 5′ 8″, see the feet and inch symbol page.

Calculus Symbols: Integration, Derivatives and Limits

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
∫	Integral	area under a curve, anti-derivative	∫ 2x dx = x² + C
∬ ∭	Double, triple integral	integrate over area or volume	∬ f dA
∮	Contour integral	integral around a closed path	∮ E · dl
d/dx	Derivative	rate of change	d/dx (x²) = 2x
∂	Partial derivative	change in one variable only	∂f/∂x
∆	Delta (increment)	change in a quantity	∆x = x₂ − x₁
∇	Del (nabla)	gradient operator	∇f
lim	Limit	value approached	lim (1/x) = 0 as x → ∞
→	Tends to	approaches	x → 0

The integration symbol (∫) is a tall, stretched letter S, because an integral is a kind of sum. The integral symbol copy paste works best from the grid above. On a Mac, Option+B types ∫ and Option+D types ∂; on Windows use the code with Alt+X in Word (222B for ∫).

Set Theory Symbols: Union, Intersection, Subset

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
∈	Belongs to	is an element of	3 ∈ {1, 2, 3}
∉	Does not belong to	is not an element of	5 ∉ {1, 2, 3}
⊂	Subset	every element is also in the other set	{1, 2} ⊂ {1, 2, 3}
⊆	Subset or equal	subset, may be equal	A ⊆ A
⊃	Superset	contains the other set	{1, 2, 3} ⊃ {1}
∪	Union	elements in A or B or both	{1, 2} ∪ {2, 3} = {1, 2, 3}
∩	Intersection	elements in both A and B	{1, 2} ∩ {2, 3} = {2}
∅ or { }	Empty set (null set)	set with no elements	A ∩ B = ∅
U	Universal set	set of all elements under study	A ⊂ U
ℕ ℤ ℚ ℝ ℂ	Number sets	natural, integers, rationals, reals, complex	√2 ∈ ℝ

There is no single official irrational numbers symbol. Most books write the set of irrational numbers as ℝ − ℚ (real numbers minus rational numbers) or as ℚ′. In set-builder notation, the such that symbol is a colon or a vertical bar, for example {x : x > 2}. The belongs to symbol (∈) looks like a rounded E and comes from the Greek letter epsilon.

Logic Symbols: For All, There Exists, Or, XOR

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
∀	For all	every member	∀x, x² ≥ 0
∃	There exists	at least one	∃x such that x + 2 = 5
¬	Not (negation)	opposite truth value	¬p
∧	And	both true	p ∧ q
∨	Or	at least one true	p ∨ q
⊕	XOR (exclusive or)	exactly one true	1 ⊕ 1 = 0
⇒	Implies	if this, then that	x = 2 ⇒ x² = 4
⇔	If and only if	both ways true	p ⇔ q

The or symbol (∨) and the XOR symbol (⊕) are not the same. "p ∨ q" is true when one or both are true. "p ⊕ q" is true only when exactly one is true. In digital electronics, logic gates use drawn shapes on circuit diagrams, but in Boolean expressions you will see these same signs. In programming, OR is often written || and XOR as ^, which are keyboard characters, not maths symbols.

Greek Letters Used in Maths

Maths borrows many letters from Greek. Here are the common ones, each with its own page. See the full Greek letters list for all 24.

Letter	Name	Common use
α	Alpha	angles, first root of a quadratic
β	Beta	angles, second root
γ	Gamma	angles, gamma function
δ ∆	Delta	small change, discriminant
ε	Epsilon	very small positive number
θ	Theta	angle in trigonometry, sin θ
λ	Lambda	eigenvalue, ratio
μ	Mu	population mean
π	Pi	3.14159...
σ ∑	Sigma	standard deviation, sum
φ	Phi	golden ratio, angle
ω	Omega	cube root of unity

Physics uses many of the same letters for quantities and units. See our physics symbols table for λ, ρ, Ω and more, or Roman numerals for I, V, X and friends.

How to Type Maths Symbols on Any Device

Windows (any app): a few symbols have Alt codes on the number pad with Num Lock on, for example Alt+0215 for ×, Alt+0247 for ÷ and Alt+0177 for ±. Codes can behave differently in some apps.
Microsoft Word: type the code shown in the info table, then press Alt+X. For example 2229 then Alt+X gives ∩ and 222A then Alt+X gives ∪. You can also use Insert > Equation and type \int or \cap.
Mac: Option+= gives ≠, Option+V gives √, Option+P gives π, Option+5 gives ∞. For others press Control+Command+Space to open the Character Viewer.
Google Docs: Insert > Special characters, then search a name such as "union".
Phone: on most Android keyboards tap ?123 then =\< for ×, ÷, ±, π and √. On iPhone tap 123 then #+=. Anything else, copy from this page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the integration symbol called?