SYM: symbol
Definition
A symbol is a word-like entity that differs from ordinary words by form, function, or both.
Many symbols are or contain special non-alphanumeric characters, similarly to punctuation. What makes them different from punctuation is that they can be substituted by normal words. This involves all alchemical and astronomical symbols, e.g. ☉ stands for gold and Sun; ☽ stands for silver and Moon; ☿ stands for quicksilver and Mercury.
Mathematical operators form another group of symbols.
Some special characters used in Middle Armenian texts for articulation, stenography or proofreading (e.g. ՟, ~, U, /, ∞), as well as characters used as bullets in itemized lists (•, ‣) are not symbols, they are punctuation.
Examples
- ☉, ☽, ☿, ♃
- +, −, ×, ÷, =
SYM in other languages: [axm] [cs] [cy] [da] [en] [es] [et] [fi] [fr] [ga] [grc] [hy] [it] [ja] [kk] [ky] [no] [pt] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urj] [yue] [zh]