Mathematical Symbols

List of all mathematical symbols and signs - meaning and examples.

Basic math symbols

Symbol
=

>
<

()
[]
+

Symbol Name
equals sign
not equal sign
strict inequality
strict inequality
inequality
inequality
parentheses
brackets
plus sign
minus sign
plus - minus
minus - plus
asterisk
times sign
multiplication dot
division sign / obelus
division slash

Meaning / definition
equality
inequality
greater than
less than
greater than or equal to
less than or equal to
calculate expression inside first
calculate expression inside first
addition
subtraction
both plus and minus operations
both minus and plus operations
multiplication
multiplication
multiplication
division
division

horizontal line

division / fraction

mod
.

modulo
period
power

Example
5 = 2+3
54
5>4
4<5
54
45
2 (3+5) = 16
[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18
1+1=2
21=1
3 5 = 8 and -2
3 5 = -2 and 8
2*3=6
23=6
23=6
62=3
6/2=3

square root

remainder calculation
7 mod 2 = 1
decimal point, decimal separator 2.56 = 2+56/100
exponent
23 = 8
exponent
2^3=8
a a = a
9 = 3

3a

cube root

3a 3a

3a = a

38

4a

fourth root

4a 4a

4a 4a = a

416

na

ppm
ppb

n-th root (radical)

percent
per-mille
per-million
per-billion

1% = 1/100
1 = 1/1000 = 0.1%
1ppm = 1/1000000
1ppb = 1/1000000000

ppt

per-trillion

1ppt = 10-12

ab
a^b

caret

=2
= 2

for n=3, n8 = 2
10% 30 = 3
10 30 = 0.3
10ppm 30 = 0.0003
10ppb 30 = 310-7
10ppt 30 = 310-10

Geometry symbols
Symbol Name
angle
measured angle
spherical angle
right angle
degree
arcminute
arcsecond

Meaning / definition
formed by two rays

line

infinite line

line segment
ray

line from point A to point B

line that start from point A

arc

arc from point A to point B

|
||

|x-y|

perpendicular
parallel
congruent to
similarity
triangle
distance

perpendicular lines (90 angle)

parallel lines
equivalence of geometric shapes and size
same shapes, not same size
triangle shape
distance between points x and y
= 3.141592654...

pi constant

is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a

circle

c = d = 2r

rad
grad

radians
grads

radians angle unit

grads angle unit

360 = 2 rad
360 = 400 grad

Symbol

AB

= 90
1 turn = 360
1 = 60
1 = 60

Example
ABC = 30
ABC = 30
AOB = 30
= 90
= 60
= 6059'
= 6059'59''

= 60
AC | BC
AB || CD
ABC XYZ
ABC ~ XYZ
ABC BCD
| x-y | = 5

Algebra symbols
x

:=
~

Symbol Name
x variable
equivalence
equal by definition
equal by definition
approximately equal
approximately equal

Meaning / definition
unknown value to find
identical to
equal by definition
equal by definition
weak approximation
approximation

proportional to

proportional to

()
[]
{}
x

lemniscate
much less than
much greater than
parentheses
brackets
braces
floor brackets

infinity symbol
much less than
much greater than
calculate expression inside first
calculate expression inside first
set
rounds number to lower integer

x
x!
|x|
f (x)

ceiling brackets
exclamation mark
single vertical bar
function of x

(f g)

function composition

rounds number to upper integer

factorial
absolute value
maps values of x to f(x)
(f g) (x) = f (g(x))

(a,b)
[a,b]

open interval
closed interval

(a,b) = {x | a < x < b}

[a,b] = {x | a x b}

delta

change / difference

discriminant

= b2 - 4ac

sigma

summation - sum of all values in range of series

sigma

double summation

capital pi

product - product of all values in range of series

xi=x1x2...xn

e = 2.718281828...

e = lim (1+1/x)x , x

Symbol

e constant / Euler's
number
Euler-Mascheroni
constant
golden ratio

pi constant

Example
when 2x = 4, then x = 2

11 ~ 10
sin(0.01) 0.01
f(x) g(x)

1 1000000
1000000 1
2 * (3+5) = 16
[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18
4.34
4.35
4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24
| -5 | = 5
f (x) = 3x+5
f (x)=3x, g(x)=x-1 (f g)
(x)=3(x-1)
x (2,6)
x [2,6]
t = t1 - t0
xi= x1+x2+...+xn

= 0.527721566...
golden ratio constant
= 3.141592654... is the ratio between

the circumference and diameter of a circle c = d = 2r

Linear Algebra Symbols

Symbol

Symbol Name

dot
cross

AB

tensor product

[]
()

inner product
brackets
parentheses

Meaning / definition

Example

scalar product
ab
vector product
ab
tensor product of A
AB
and B

|| x ||

matrix of numbers
matrix of numbers
determinant of
determinant
matrix A
determinant of
determinant
matrix A
double vertical bars norm

AT

transpose

matrix transpose

Hermitian matrix

matrix conjugate
transpose

(A)ij = (A)ji

A*

Hermitian matrix

matrix conjugate
transpose

(A*)ij = (A)ji

A -1

inverse matrix

A A-1 = I

rank(A)

matrix rank

rank of matrix A

dim(U)

dimension

dimension of
matrix A

|A|
det(A)

(AT)ij = (A)ji

rank(A) = 3
rank(U) = 3

Probability and statistics symbols

Symbol
P(A)
P(A B)
P(A B)
P(A | B)
f (x)
F(x)

E(X)
E(X | Y)
var(X)
2
std(X)
X

cov(X,Y)
corr(X,Y)
X,Y

Symbol Name
Meaning / definition
Example
probability function probability of event A
P(A) = 0.5
probability of
probability that of events A
P(AB) = 0.5
events intersection and B
probability of
probability that of events A
P(AB) = 0.5
events union
or B
conditional
probability of event A given
P(A | B) = 0.3
probability function event B occured
probability density
P(a x b) = f (x) dx
function (pdf)
cumulative
distribution function F(x) = P(X x)
(cdf)
population mean
mean of population values = 10
expected value of random
expectation value
E(X) = 10
variable X
conditional
expected value of random
E(X | Y=2) = 5
expectation
variable X given Y
variance of random variable
variance
var(X) = 4
X
variance of population
variance
2 = 4
values
standard deviation of
standard deviation
std(X) = 2
random variable X
standard deviation value of = 2
standard deviation
X
random variable X
middle value of random
median
variable x
covariance of random
covariance
cov(X,Y) = 4
variables X and Y
correlation of random
correlation
corr(X,Y) = 0.6
variables X and Y
correlation of random
X,Y = 0.6
correlation
variables X and Y
summation - sum of all
summation
values in range of series

double summation

Mo

mode

MR

mid-range

double summation
value that occurs most
frequently in population
MR = (xmax+xmin)/2

zx

half the population is below

this value
25% of population are
lower / first quartile
below this value
50% of population are
median / second
below this value = median
quartile
of samples
75% of population are
upper / third quartile
below this value
sample mean
average / arithmetic mean x = (2+5+9) / 3 = 5.333
population samples
sample variance
s2=4
variance estimator
population samples
sample standard
standard deviation
s=2
deviation
estimator
zx = (x-x) / sx
standard score

X~

distribution of X

Md
Q1
Q2
Q3
x
s2
s

N(,2)
U(a,b)
exp()

sample median

distribution of random
variable X
normal distribution gaussian distribution
equal probability in range
uniform distribution
a,b
exponential
f (x) = e-x , x0
distribution

gamma(c, )

f (x) = c xc-1e-x / (c),

gamma distribution x0

2(k)

chi-square
distribution

F (k1, k2)

F distribution

Bin(n,p)

binomial
distribution

Poisson()

k -
Poisson distribution f (k) = e / k!

Geom(p)
HG(N,K,n)
Bern(p)

geometric
distribution
hyper-geometric
distribution
Bernoulli
distribution

f (x) = xk/2-1e-x/2 / ( 2k/2

(k/2) )

f (k) = nCk pk(1-p)n-k

f (k) = p (1-p) k

X ~ N(0,3)
X ~ N(0,3)
X ~ U(0,3)

Combinatorics Symbols
Symbol Symbol Name
Meaning / definition
n!
factorial
n! = 123...n

Example
5! = 12345 = 120

nPk

permutation

5P3

= 5! / (5-3)! = 60

combination

5C3

= 5!/[3!(5-3)!]=10

nCk

Set theory symbols

Symbol Name

Symbol

Meaning / definition

Example

{}

set

AB

intersection

A B

union

A B

subset

A B

proper subset / strict subset

A B

not subset

A B

superset

A B
A B

proper superset / strict superset

not superset
power set

A = {3,7,9,14},
B = {9,14,28}
objects that belong to set A and set B A B = {9,14}
AB=
objects that belong to set A or set B
{3,7,9,14,28}
subset has fewer elements or equal to {9,14,28}
the set
{9,14,28}
subset has fewer elements than the
{9,14} {9,14,28}
set
left set not a subset of right set
{9,66} {9,14,28}
set A has more elements or equal to {9,14,28}
the set B
{9,14,28}
set A has more elements than set B {9,14,28} {9,14}
set A is not a superset of set B
{9,14,28} {9,66}
all subsets of A

power set

all subsets of A

2A

a collection of elements

A=B

equality

both sets have the same members

Ac

complement

all the objects that do not belong to

set A

A\ B

relative complement

A-B

relative complement

A B

symmetric difference

A B

symmetric difference

aA
xA
(a,b)
AB
|A|
#A

element of
not element of
ordered pair
cartesian product
cardinality
cardinality

A={3,9,14},
B={3,9,14},
A=B

A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A and not to B B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A and not to B B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A or B but not
B = {1,2,3},
to their intersection
A B = {1,2,9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A or B but not
B = {1,2,3},
to their intersection
A B = {1,2,9,14}
set membership
A={3,9,14}, 3 A
no set membership
A={3,9,14}, 1 A
collection of 2 elements
set of all ordered pairs from A and B
the number of elements of set A
A={3,9,14}, |A|=3
the number of elements of set A
A={3,9,14}, #A=3

aleph-null
aleph-one

0
1

empty set
universal set
natural numbers / whole
numbers set (with zero)
natural numbers / whole
numbers set (without zero)
integer numbers set
rational numbers set
real numbers set
complex numbers set

infinite cardinality of natural

numbers set
cardinality of countable ordinal
numbers set
={}
set of all possible values

C = {}

= {0,1,2,3,4,...}

= {1,2,3,4,5,...}

= {...-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,...}
= {x | x=a/b, a,b }
= {x | - < x <}
= {z | z=a+bi, -<a<,
-<b<}

-6
2/6
6.343434
6+2i

Logic symbols
Symbol

^
&
+

|
x'
x

Symbol Name
and
caret / circumflex
ampersand
plus
reversed caret
vertical line
single quote
bar
not
exclamation mark
circled plus / oplus
tilde
implies
equivalent
equivalent
for all
there exists
there does not exists
therefore
because / since

Meaning / definition
and
and
and
or
or
or
not - negation
not - negation
not - negation
not - negation
exclusive or - xor
negation
if and only if (iff)
if and only if (iff)

Example
xy
x^y
x&y
x+y
xy
x|y
x'
x
x
!x
xy
~x

Calculus & analysis symbols

Symbol

Symbol Name

Meaning / definition

Example

limit

limit value of a function

epsilon

represents a very small number, near zero

e constant / Euler's number

e = 2.718281828...

e = lim (1+1/x)x , x

y'

derivative

derivative - Lagrange's notation

(3x3)' = 9x2

y ''

second derivative

derivative of derivative

(3x3)'' = 18x

y(n)

nth derivative

n times derivation

(3x3)(3) = 18

derivative

derivative - Leibniz's notation

d(3x3)/dx = 9x2

second derivative

derivative of derivative

d2(3x3)/dx2 = 18x

nth derivative

n times derivation

derivative by time - Newton's notation

time derivative
time second derivative derivative of derivative

Dx y

derivative

derivative - Euler's notation

Dx2 y

second derivative

derivative of derivative
(x2+y2)/x = 2x

partial derivative

[a,b]
(a,b)
i
z*
z

integral
double integral
triple integral

opposite to derivation
integration of function of 2 variables
integration of function of 3 variables

closed contour / line integral

closed surface integral

closed volume integral
closed interval
open interval
imaginary unit
complex conjugate
complex conjugate
nabla / del

[a,b] = {x | a x b}
(a,b) = {x | a < x < b}
i -1
z = a+bi z*=a-bi
z = a+bi z = a-bi
gradient / divergence operator

vector
unit vector
x*y

convolution
Laplace transform
Fourier transform
delta function
lemniscate

y(t) = x(t) * h(t)

F(s) = {f (t)}
X() = {f (t)}
infinity symbol

z = 3 + 2i
z* = 3 + 2i
z = 3 + 2i
f (x,y,z)

Numeral symbols
Name
zero
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
thirty
fourty
fifty
sixty
seventy
eighty
ninety
one hundred

European
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

Roman Hindu Arabic

II

III

IV

VI

VII

VIII

IX

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII
XVIII
XIX

XX

XXX
XL

LX

LXX
LXXX
XC

Hebrew

Greek alphabet letters

Greek Symbol
Upper Case Lower Case

Greek Letter Name English Equivalent Pronunciation

Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Zeta
Eta
Theta
Iota
Kappa
Lambda
Mu
Nu
Xi
Omicron
Pi
Rho
Sigma
Tau
Upsilon
Phi
Chi
Psi
Omega

a
b
g
d
e
z
h
th
i
k
l
m
n
x
o
p
r
s
t
u
ph
ch
ps
o

al-fa
be-ta
ga-ma
del-ta
ep-si-lon
ze-ta
eh-ta
te-ta
io-ta
ka-pa
lam-da
m-yoo
noo
x-ee
o-mee-c-ron
pa-yee
row
sig-ma
ta-oo
oo-psi-lon
f-ee
kh-ee
p-see
o-me-ga

Roman numerals
Number
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

Roman numeral
not defined
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXX
XL
L
LX
LXX
LXXX
XC
C
CC
CCC
CD
D
DC
DCC
DCCC
CM

1000
5000
10000
50000
100000
500000
1000000

M
V
X
L
C
D
M