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Dots and dashes — and a timing relationship that the printed form hides.
Also known as: Dots and dashes, CW, Dits and dahs
Written as dots and dashes, but the code is defined by duration, not by shape. A dash is three dots long, the gap between symbols is one dot and between letters three, and a transmission that ignores the ratios is unreadable however correct the marks are.
A code in which each letter, numeral and punctuation mark is a sequence of short and long signals, written as dots and dashes and standardised as International Morse code.
Contexts: Navigation
Defined by duration rather than by mark. A dash lasts three dot-lengths, the space within a character one, between characters three and between words seven — so the ratios are the code, and the dots and dashes are only how it is written down.
A signal with the right marks and the wrong timing is not Morse.
The lengths were assigned by letter frequency in English, which is why E is a single dot and Q is four elements. It is an early and effective compression scheme.
SOS is a single prosign transmitted without letter spaces, not three letters. It was chosen for being unmistakable rather than as an abbreviation, and expansions such as save our souls are later inventions.
The backronyms are not the origin.
A run of short dots and longer dashes on a single line, grouped with wider gaps between letters.