Degree sign

A small raised circle marking degrees of temperature, angle or arc.

Also known as: Degrees symbol, Temperature symbol, Angle degree sign

MathematicalScientificKeyboard & punctuationStandard profile

Meanings

The degree sign marks degrees of temperature, of angle, and of geographic coordinates. Its meaning depends entirely on what follows it.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks degrees of temperature when followed by a scale letter, as in 20 °C or 68 °F.
Contexts: Mathematics
Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks degrees of angle or arc, as in a 90° turn, and degrees of latitude and longitude.
Contexts: Mathematics
Officially standardisedVerified fact
Is a distinct character from the masculine ordinal indicator and the ring above, which look similar at small sizes.
Substituting a superscript o or a ring diacritic is a common error that changes the character while looking almost identical.
Contexts: Mathematics

A small circle set at the height of the top of a digit.

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Degree symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Unicode Code Chart: Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

Meanings

The degree sign marks degrees of temperature, of angle, and of geographic coordinates. Its meaning depends entirely on what follows it.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks degrees of temperature when followed by a scale letter, as in 20 °C or 68 °F.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks degrees of angle or arc, as in a 90° turn, and degrees of latitude and longitude.

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Is a distinct character from the masculine ordinal indicator and the ring above, which look similar at small sizes.

Substituting a superscript o or a ring diacritic is a common error that changes the character while looking almost identical.

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Sources

Degree symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Unicode Code Chart: Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30