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Three stacked horizontal bars, marking congruence rather than equality.
Also known as: Modular congruence, Triple bar sign, Identically equal to
Three stacked horizontal bars mark a congruence: two numbers leave the same remainder when divided by a stated modulus. It is not an equals sign and the difference is not cosmetic — congruence is a statement relative to a modulus, and the modulus is written in brackets at the end of the line, where it is easy to overlook. The same three-bar glyph is also used for definitions and for identities in other parts of mathematics.
States that two numbers leave the same remainder when divided by a stated modulus, which is a claim relative to that modulus rather than an equality.
Contexts: Mathematics
Depends on a modulus written in brackets at the end of the line, which carries the whole meaning of the statement and is the easiest thing on the line to overlook.
Contexts: Mathematics
Is used elsewhere for definitions and identities — an assertion that two expressions are equal for every value rather than at a particular one — which is a related but distinct job for the same glyph.
Contexts: Mathematics
Three horizontal bars of equal length stacked one above another with even gaps between them, set between two expressions.
Two bars is equality; three is congruence, which depends on a modulus.