Division sign

A horizontal stroke with a dot above and below, indicating division.

Also known as: Obelus, Divided by sign, Divide symbol

MathematicalScientificKeyboard & punctuationStandard profile

Meanings

The obelus indicates division in elementary arithmetic. It is largely confined to school mathematics: professional notation prefers a fraction bar or a solidus, and ISO 80000-2 advises against it because of ambiguity.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Indicates division between two quantities, as in 6 ÷ 2, and is read aloud as 'divided by'.
Contexts: Mathematics
Common modern usageDocumented interpretation
Is largely restricted to elementary teaching; higher mathematics uses a fraction bar or solidus instead, partly because expressions such as 6 ÷ 2(1+2) are read inconsistently.
The ambiguity is about how readers apply precedence, not about the sign's meaning, which is not in dispute.
Contexts: Mathematics

Visual description

A horizontal stroke with one dot centred above it and one centred below.

Symmetry: bilateral
Orientation: upright

Opposite of: Multiplication sign
Division against multiplication.

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

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.
Division sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

Part of

Mathematical and scientific notation

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Meanings

Common modern usageVerified fact

Indicates division between two quantities, as in 6 ÷ 2, and is read aloud as 'divided by'.

Contexts: Mathematics

Common modern usageDocumented interpretation

Is largely restricted to elementary teaching; higher mathematics uses a fraction bar or solidus instead, partly because expressions such as 6 ÷ 2(1+2) are read inconsistently.

The ambiguity is about how readers apply precedence, not about the sign's meaning, which is not in dispute.

Contexts: Mathematics

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

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.
Division sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols