Character Entities (Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition)

Characters not found in the normal alphanumeric character set, such as © or &, must be specified in HTML using character entities. Character entities can be defined by name (&name;) or by numeric value (&#nnn;).

The first part of this appendix presents the standard HTML character entities. The second part presents newly added entities in the HTML 4.0 specification that are not as well supported.

F.1. Standard Character Entities

The following table contains the defined standard, proposed, and several nonstandard, bvut generally supported, character entities for HTML. Not all 256 characters in the ISO character set appear in the table. Missing ones are not recognized by the browser as either named or numeric entities.

Entities for which the version conformance column is blank are part of the HTML 2.0 and later standards and will work with nearly all available browsers. Characters whose version column contains "4.0" are part of the HTML 4.0 specification only. As of this writing, they are supported by versions 4.0 and higher of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. An "N" in the conformance column indicates that the character is a nonstandard entity. Use them with caution as results may vary by platform.

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
` `			Horizontal tab
` `			Line feed
` `			Carriage return
` `			Space
`!`		!	Exclamation point
`"`	`"`	"	Quotation mark
`#`		#	Hash mark
`$`		$	Dollar symbol
`%`		%	Percent symbol
`&`	`&`	&	Ampersand
`'`		'	Apostrophe (single quote)
`(`		(	Left parenthesis
`)`		)	Right parenthesis
`*`		*	Asterisk
`+`		+	Plus sign
`,`		,	Comma
`-`		-	Hyphen
`.`		.	Period
`/`		/	Slash
`0- 9`		0-9	Digits 0-9
`:`		:	Colon
`;`		;	Semicolon
`<`	`<`	<	Less than
`=`		=	Equals sign
`>`	`>`	>	Greater than
`?`		?	Question mark
`@`		@	Commercial at sign
`A- Z`		A-Z	Letters A-Z
`[`		[	Left square bracket
`\`		\	Backslash
`]`		]	Right square bracket
`^`		^	Caret
`_`		_	Underscore
```		`	Grave accent (no letter)
`a- z`		a-z	Letters a-z
`{`		{	Left curly brace
`\|`		\|	Vertical bar
`}`		}	Right curly brace
`~`		~	Tilde
``		,	Low left single quote	N
``			Small f with hook	N
``			Low left double quote	N
``		...	Ellipsis	N
``			Dagger	N
``			Double dagger	N
``		^	Circumflex	N
``			Per mille (per thousand)	N
``			Capital S, caron	N
``		<	Less-than sign	N
``			Capital OE ligature	N
``		`	Left single curly quote	N
``		'	Right single curly quote	N
``		"	Left double curly quote	N
``		"	Right double curly quote	N
``			Bullet	N
``		-	En dash	N
``		--	Em dash	N
``		~	Tilde	N
``			Trademark	N
``			Small s, caron	N
``		>	Greater-than sign	N
``			Lowercase oe ligature	N
``			Capital Y, umlaut	N
` `	` `		Nonbreaking space	4.0
`¡`	`¡`	¡	Inverted exclamation mark	4.0
`¢`	`¢`	¢	Cent sign	4.0
`£`	`£`	£	Pound symbol	4.0
`¤`	`¤`	¤	General currency symbol	4.0
`¥`	`¥`	¥	Yen symbol	4.0
`¦`	`¦`		Broken vertical bar	4.0
`§`	`§`	§	Section sign	4.0
`¨`	`¨`	¨	Umlaut	4.0
`©`	`©`	©	Copyright	4.0
`ª`	`ª`	ª	Feminine ordinal	4.0
`«`	`«`	«	Left angle quote	4.0
`¬`	`¬`	¬	Not sign	4.0
``	``		Soft hyphen	4.0
`®`	`®`	®	Registered trademark	4.0
`¯`	`¯`	¯	Macron accent	4.0
`°`	`°`	°	Degree sign	4.0
`±`	`±`	±	Plus or minus	4.0
`²`	`²`	²	Superscript 2	4.0
`³`	`³`	³	Superscript 3	4.0
`´`	`´`	´	Acute accent (no letter)	4.0
`µ`	`µ`	µ	Micron (Greek mu)	4.0
`¶`	`¶`	¶	Paragraph sign	4.0
`·`	`·`	·	Middle dot	4.0
`¸`	`¸`	¸	Cedilla	4.0
`¹`	`¹`	¹	Superscript 1	4.0
`º`	`º`	º	Masculine ordinal	4.0
`»`	`»`	»	Right angle quote	4.0
`¼`	`¼`	¹/₄	Fraction one-fourth	4.0
`½`	`½`	¹/₂	Fraction one-half	4.0
`¾`	`¾`	³/₄	Fraction three-fourths	4.0
`¿`	`¿`	¿	Inverted question mark	4.0
`À`	`À`	À	Capital A, grave accent
`Á`	`Á`	Á	Capital A, acute accent
`Â`	`Â`	Â	Capital A, circumflex accent
`Ã`	`Ã`	Ã	Capital A, tilde accent
`Ä`	`Ä`	Ä	Capital A, umlaut
`Å`	`&Aring`	Å	Capital A, ring
`Æ`	`Æ`	Æ	Capital AE ligature
`Ç`	`Ç`	Ç	Capital C, cedilla
`È`	`&Egrave`	È	Capital E, grave accent
`É`	`É`	É	Capital E, acute accent
`Ê`	`Ê`	Ê	Capital E, circumflex accent
`Ë`	`Ë`	Ë	Capital E, umlaut
`Ì`	`Ì`	Ì	Capital I, grave accent
`Í`	`Í`	Í	Capital I, acute accent
`Î`	`Î`	Î	Capital I, circumflex accent
`Ï`	`Ï`	Ï	Capital I, umlaut
`Ð`	`Ð`		Capital eth, Icelandic
`Ñ`	`Ñ`	Ñ	Capital N, tilde
`Ò`	`Ò`	Ò	Capital O, grave accent
`Ó`	`Ó`	Ó	Capital O, acute accent
`Ô`	`Ô`	Ô	Capital O, circumflex accent
`Õ`	`Õ`	Õ	Capital O, tilde accent
`Ö`	`Ö`	Ö	Capital O, umlaut
`×`	`×`		Multiplication sign	4.0
`Ø`	`Ø`	Ø	Capital O, slash
`Ù`	`Ù`	Ù	Capital U, grave accent
`Ú`	`Ú`	Ú	Capital U, acute accent
`Û`	`Û`	Û	Capital U, circumflex
`Ü`	`Ü`	Ü	Capital U, umlaut
`Ý`	`Ý`		Capital Y, acute accent
`Þ`	`Þ`		Capital Thorn, Icelandic
`ß`	`ß`	ß	Small sz ligature, German
`à`	`à`	à	Small a, grave accent
`á`	`á`	á	Small a, acute accent
`â`	`â`	â	Small a, circumflex accent
`ã`	`ã`	ã	Small a, tilde
`ä`	`ä`	ä	Small a, umlaut
`å`	`å`	å	Small a, ring
`æ`	`æ`	æ	Small ae ligature
`ç`	`ç`	ç	Small c, cedilla
`è`	`è`	è	Small e, grave accent
`é`	`é`	é	Small e, acute accent
`ê`	`ê`	ê	Small e, circumflex accent
`ë`	`ë`	ë	Small e, umlaut accent
`ì`	`ì`	ì	Small i, grave accent
`í`	`í`	í	Small i, acute accent
`î`	`î`	î	Small i, circumflex accent
`ï`	`ï`	ï	Small i, umlaut
`ð`	`ð`		Small eth, Icelandic
`ñ`	`ñ`	ñ	Small n, tilde
`ò`	`ò`	ò	Small o, grave accent
`ó`	`ó`	ó	Small o, acute accent
`ô`	`ô`	ô	Small o, circumflex accent
`õ`	`õ`	õ	Small o, tilde
`ö`	`ö`	ö	Small o, umlaut
`÷`	`÷`	÷	Division sign	4.0
`ø`	`ø`	ø	Small o, slash
`ù`	`ù`	ù	Small u, grave accent
`ú`	`ú`	ú	Small u, acute accent
`û`	`û`	û	Small u, circumflex accent
`ü`	`ü`	ü	Small u, umlaut
`ý`	`ý`		Small y, acute accent
`þ`	`þ`		Small thorn, Icelandic
`ÿ`	`ÿ`	ÿ	Small y, umlaut

Extended HTML 4.01 Entities

The HTML 4.01 specification introduces a wide variety of new character entities for rendering foreign languages, mathematical material, and other symbols. Their support is limited to the latest browser versions (IE 5.5 and NN 6, although NN4.x supports the Latin Extended-A set).

F.1.1. Latin Extended-A

Number	Name	Description	Version
`Œ`	`&OElig;`	Capital ligature OE	4.0
`œ`	`&oelig;`	Small ligature oe	4.0
`Š`	`&Scaron;`	Capital S, caron	4.0
`š`	`&scaron;`	Small s, caron	4.0
`&#376`	`&Yuml;`	Capital Y, umlaut	4.0

F.1.2. Latin Extended-B

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
`ƒ`	`&fnof;`		Small f with hook	4.0

F.1.3. Spacing Modifier Letters

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
`ˆ`	`&circ;`	^	Circumflex accent	4.0
`˜`	`&tilde;`	~	Tilde	4.0

F.1.4. Greek

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
`Α`	`Α`	A	Greek capital alpha	4.0
`Β`	`Β`	B	Greek capital beta	4.0
`Γ`	`Γ`		Greek capital gamma	4.0
`Δ`	`Δ`		Greek capital delta	4.0
`Ε`	`Ε`	E	Greek capital epsilon	4.0
`Ζ`	`Ζ`	Z	Greek capital zeta	4.0
`&#919`	`Η`	H	Greek capital eta	4.0
`Θ`	`Θ`		Greek capital theta	4.0
`Ι`	`Ι`	I	Greek capital iota	4.0
`Κ`	`Κ`	K	Greek capital kappa	4.0
`Λ`	`Λ`		Greek capital lambda	4.0
`Μ`	`Μ`	M	Greek capital mu	4.0
`Ν`	`Ν`	N	Greek capital nu	4.0
`Ξ`	`Ξ`		Greek capital xi	4.0
`Ο`	`Ο`	O	Greek capital omicron	4.0
`Π`	`Π`		Greek capital pi	4.0
`Ρ`	`Ρ`		Greek capital rho	4.0
`Σ`	`Σ`		Greek captial sigma	4.0
`Τ`	`Τ`	T	Greek capital tau	4.0
`Υ`	`Υ`		Greek capital upsilon	4.0
`Φ`	`Φ`		Greek capital phi	4.0
`Χ`	`Χ`		Greek capital chi	4.0
`Ψ`	`Ψ`		Greek capital psi	4.0
`Ω`	`Ω`		Greek capital omega	4.0
`α`	`α`		Greek small alpha	4.0
`β`	`β`		Greek small beta	4.0
`γ`	`γ`		Greek small gamma	4.0
`δ`	`δ`		Greek small delta	4.0
`ε`	`ε`		Greek small epsilon	4.0
`ζ`	`ζ`		Greek small zeta	4.0
`η`	`η`		Greek small eta	4.0
`θ`	`θ`		Greek small theta	4.0
`ι`	`ι`		Greek small iota	4.0
`κ`	`κ`		Greek small kappa	4.0
`λ`	`λ`		Greek small lambda	4.0
`μ`	`μ`		Greek small mu	4.0
`ν`	`ν`		Greek small nu	4.0
`ξ`	`ξ`		Greek small xi	4.0
`ο`	`ο`		Greek small omicron	4.0
`π`	`π`		Greek small pi	4.0
`ρ`	`ρ`		Greek small rho	4.0
`ς`	`&sigmaf;`		Greek small letter final sigma	4.0
`σ`	`σ`		Greek small sigma	4.0
`τ`	`τ`		Greek small tau	4.0
`υ`	`υ`		Greek small upsilon	4.0
`φ`	`φ`		Greek small phi	4.0
`χ`	`χ`		Greek small chi	4.0
`ψ`	`ψ`		Greek small psi	4.0
`ω`	`ω`		Greek small omega	4.0
`ϑ`	`&thetasym;`		Greek small theta symbol	4.0
`ϒ`	`&upsih;`		Greek upsilon with hook	4.0
`ϖ`	`ϖ`		Greek pi symbol	4.0

F.1.5. General Punctuation

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
` `	`&ensp;`		En space	4.0
` `	`&emsp;`		Em space	4.0
` `	` `		Thin space	4.0
`‌`	`&zwnj;`	Non-printing	Zero-width non-joiner	4.0
`‍`	`&zwj;`	Non-printing	Zero-width joiner	4.0
`‎`	`&lrm;`	Non-printing	Left-to-right mark	4.0
`&#8207`	`&rlm;`	Non-printing	Right-to-left mark	4.0
`–`	`–`	-	En dash	4.0
`—`	`—`	--	Em dash	4.0
`‘`	`‘`	`	Left single quotation mark	4.0
`’`	`’`	'	Right single quotation mark	4.0
`‚`	`&sbquo;`	,	Single low-9 quotation mark	4.0
`“`	`“`	"	Left double quotation mark	4.0
`”`	`”`	"	Right double quotation mark	4.0
`„`	`&bdquo;`		Double low-9 quotation mark	4.0
`†`	`&dagger;`		Dagger	4.0
`‡`	`&Dagger;`		Double dagger	4.0
`•`	`•`		Bullet	4.0
`…`	`&hellep;`	...	Ellipses	4.0
`‰`	`&permil;`		Per mille symbol (per thousand)	4.0
`′`	`′`	´	Prime, minutes, feet	4.0
`″`	`″`		Double prime, seconds, inches	4.0
`‹`	`&lsaquo;`	`	Single left angle quotation (nonstandard)	4.0
`›`	`&rsaquo;`		Single right angle quotation (nonstandard)	4.0
`‾`	`&oline;`	¯	Overline	4.0
`⁄`	`&frasl;`	/	Fraction slash	4.0
`€`	`€`		Euro symbol	4.0

F.1.6. Letter-like Symbols

Number	Name	Description	Version
`℘`	`&weierp;`	Script capital P, power set	4.0
`ℑ`	`&image;`	Blackletter capital I, imaginary part	4.0
`ℜ`	`&real;`	Blackletter capital R, real part	4.0
`™`	`™`	Trademark sign	4.0
`ℵ`	`&alefsym;`	Alef symbol, or first transfinite cardinal	4.0

F.1.7. Arrows

Number	Name	Description	Version
`←`	`←`	Left arrow	4.0
`↑`	`↑`	Up arrow	4.0
`→`	`→`	Right arrow	4.0
`↓`	`↓`	Down arrow	4.0
`↔`	`↔`	Left-right arrow	4.0
`↵`	`&crarr;`	Down arrow with corner leftwards	4.0
`⇐`	`⇐`	Leftwards double arrow	4.0
`⇑`	`&uArr;`	Upwards double arrow	4.0
`⇒`	`⇒`	Rightwards double arrow	4.0
`⇓`	`&dArr;`	Downwards double arrow	4.0
`⇔`	`⇔`	Left-right double arrow	4.0

F.1.8. Mathematical Operators

Number	Name	Symbol	Description	Version
`∀`	`∀`		For all	4.0
`∂`	`∂`		Partial differential	4.0
`∃`	`∃`		There exists	4.0
`∅`	`∅`		Empty set, null set, diameter	4.0
`∇`	`∇`		Nabla, backward difference	4.0
`∈`	`∈`		Element of	4.0
`&#8713`	`∉`		Not an element of	4.0
`∋`	`&ni;`		Contains as a member	4.0
`∏`	`∏`		N-ary product, product sign	4.0
`∑`	`∑`		N-ary summation	4.0
`−`	`−`	-	Minus sign	4.0
`∗`	`&lowast;`	*	Asterisk operator	4.0
`√`	`√`		Square root, radical sign	4.0
`∝`	`&prop;`		Proportional	4.0
`∞`	`∞`		Infinity symbol	4.0
`∠`	`&ang;`		Angle	4.0
`∧`	`&and;`		Logical and, wedge	4.0
`∨`	`&or;`		Logical or, vee	4.0
`∩`	`∩`		Intersection, cap	4.0
`∪`	`∪`		Union, cup	4.0
`∫`	`∫`		Integral	4.0
`∴`	`&there4;`		Therefore	4.0
`∼`	`&sim;`	~	Tilde operator, varies with, similar to	4.0
`≅`	`&cong;`		Approximately equal to	4.0
`≈`	`≈`		Almost equal to, asymptotic to	4.0
`≠`	`≠`		Not equal to	4.0
`≡`	`&equiv;`		Identical to	4.0
`≤`	`≤`		Less than or equal to	4.0
`≥`	`≥`		Greater than or equal to	4.0
`⊂`	`⊂`		Subset of	4.0
`⊃`	`⊃`		Superset of	4.0
`⊄`	`&nsub;`		Not a subset of	4.0
`⊆`	`&sube`		Subset of or equal to	4.0
`⊇`	`&supe`		Superset of or equal to	4.0
`⊕`	`&oplus;`		Circled plus, direct sum	4.0
`⊗`	`&otimes;`		Circled times, vector product	4.0
`⊥`	`&perp;`		Up tack, orthagonal to, perpendicular	4.0
`⋅`	`⋅`		Dot operator	4.0

F.1.9. Miscellaneous Technical Symbols

Number	Name	Description	Version
`⌈`	`&lceil;`	Left ceiling	4.0
`⌉`	`&rceil;`	Right ceiling	4.0
`⌊`	`&lfloor;`	Left floor	4.0
`⌋`	`&rfloor`	Right floor	4.0
`〈`	`&lang;`	Left-pointing angle bracket	4.0
`〉`	`&rang;`	Right-pointing angle bracket	4.0