Math Symbols List

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

Basic math symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

5 = 2+3
= equals sign equality
5 is equal to 2+3
5≠4
≠ not equal sign inequality
5 is not equal to 4
sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01,
approximately
≈ equal
approximation x ≈ y means x is
approximately equal to y
5>4
> strict inequality greater than
5 is greater than 4
4<5
< strict inequality less than
4 is less than 5
5 ≥ 4,
≥ inequality greater than or equal to x ≥ y means x is greater
than or equal to y
4 ≤ 5,
≤ inequality less than or equal to x ≤ y means x is less
than or equal to y
calculate expression inside
() parentheses
first
2 × (3+5) = 16

calculate expression inside

[] brackets
first
[(1+2)×(1+5)] = 18

+ plus sign addition 1+1=2

− minus sign subtraction 2−1=1

plus - minus both plus and minus 3 ± 5 = 8 or -2
±
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

operations

3 ∓ 5 = -2 or 8
both minus and plus
± minus - plus
operations

* asterisk multiplication 2*3=6

× times sign multiplication 2×3=6

⋅ 2⋅3=6
multiplication
multiplication
dot

division sign /
÷ obelus
division 6÷2=3

/ division slash division 6/2=3

— horizontal line division / fraction

mod modulo remainder calculation 7 mod 2 = 1

decimal point, decimal
. period
separator
2.56 = 2+56/100

ab power exponent 23 = 8

a^b caret exponent 2 ^ 3= 8

√a square root √a ⋅ √a = a √9 = ±3
3
√a cube root 3
√a ⋅ 3√a ⋅ 3√a = a 3
√8 = 2
√a
4
⋅ √a ⋅ √a ⋅ √a =
4 4 4
4
√a fourth root
a
4
√16 = ±2

n n-th root
√a (radical)
for n=3, n√8 = 2

% percent 1% = 1/100 10% × 30 = 3

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

‰ per-mille 1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1% 10‰ × 30 = 0.3

ppm per-million 1ppm = 1/1000000 10ppm × 30 = 0.0003
ppb per-billion 1ppb = 1/1000000000 10ppb × 30 = 3×10-7
ppt per-trillion 1ppt = 10-12 10ppt × 30 = 3×10-10

Geometry symbols

∠
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

angle formed by two rays ∠ABC = 30°

measured
ABC = 30°
angle

spherical angle AOB = 30°

∟ right angle = 90° α = 90°

° degree 1 turn = 360° α = 60°

deg degree 1 turn = 360deg α = 60deg

′ prime arcminute, 1° = 60′ α = 60°59′

″ double prime arcsecond, 1′ = 60″ α = 60°59′59″

line infinite line

AB line segment line from point A to point B

ray line that start from point A

arc arc from point A to point B = 60°

⊥ perpendicular perpendicular lines (90° angle) AC ⊥ BC

 ∥
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

parallel parallel lines AB ∥ CD

≅ congruent to
equivalence of geometric shapes and ∆ABC≅
size ∆XYZ
∆ABC~
~ similarity same shapes, not same size
∆XYZ

ΔABC≅
Δ triangle triangle shape
ΔBCD

|x-y| distance distance between points x and y | x-y | = 5

π = 3.141592654...
c = π⋅d =
π pi constant is the ratio between the circumference and
2⋅π⋅r
diameter of a circle

rad radians radians angle unit 360° = 2π rad

c
radians radians angle unit 360° = 2π c
gradians / 360° = 400
grad gons
grads angle unit
grad
g gradians /
gons
grads angle unit 360° = 400 g

Algebra symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

x x variable unknown value to find when 2x = 4, then x = 2

≡ equivalence identical to

≜
equal by
equal by definition
definition

equal by
:= definition
equal by definition
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

approximately
~ equal
weak approximation 11 ~ 10

approximately
≈ equal
approximation sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01

∝ proportional to proportional to y ∝ x when y = kx,

k constant

∞
≪
lemniscate infinity symbol

much less than much less than 1 ≪ 1000000

≫ 1000000 ≫ 1
much greater
much greater than
than
calculate expression
() parentheses
inside first
2 * (3+5) = 16
calculate expression
[] brackets
inside first
[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18

{} braces set

⌊x⌋ ⌊4.3⌋ = 4
rounds number to lower
floor brackets

⌈x⌉
integer

⌈4.3⌉ = 5
rounds number to
ceiling brackets
upper integer
exclamation
x! mark
factorial 4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24

|x| vertical bars absolute value | -5 | = 5

f (x) function of x maps values of x to f(x) f (x) = 3x+5

f (x)=3x,g(x)=x-1 ⇒(f ∘ g)
(f ∘ g) composition (f ∘ g) (x) = f (g(x))
function
(x)=3(x-1)

(a,b) open interval (a,b) = {x | a < x < b} x∈ (2,6)

[a,b] closed interval [a,b] = {x | a ≤ x ≤ b} x ∈ [2,6]

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

∆ delta change / difference ∆t = t1 - t0

∆ discriminant Δ = b2 - 4ac
summation - sum of all
∑ sigma values in range of ∑ xi= x1+x2+...+xn
series

∑∑ sigma double summation

product - product of all

∏ capital pi values in range of ∏ xi=x1∙x2∙...∙xn
series
e constant /
e Euler's number
e = 2.718281828... e = lim (1+1/x)x , x→∞
Euler-
γ Mascheroni γ = 0.5772156649...
constant

φ golden ratio golden ratio constant

π = 3.141592654...
is the ratio between the
π pi constant
circumference and
c = π⋅d = 2⋅π⋅r
diameter of a circle

Linear Algebra Symbols

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

· dot scalar product a·b

× cross vector product a×b
A⊗B tensor product tensor product of A and B A⊗B
inner product

[] brackets matrix of numbers

Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example

() parentheses matrix of numbers

|A| determinant determinant of matrix A

det(A) determinant determinant of matrix A

|| x || double vertical bars norm

AT transpose matrix transpose (AT)ij = (A)ji

A† 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 rank(A) = 3

dim(U) dimension dimension of matrix A dim(U) = 3