Segno

A slanted S crossed by a diagonal with two dots, marking a return point.

Also known as: Sign, Crossed S with two dots, Crossed S music

MusicalEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

The segno marks a place to jump back to. It carries no instruction by itself — it is a destination, and something elsewhere in the score has to send the reader to it.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks the point a performer returns to when instructed by a dal segno direction.
Contexts: Music
Common modern usageVerified fact
Carries no instruction on its own: it is a destination, and the direction that sends a reader to it appears elsewhere.
Contexts: Music
Officially standardisedVerified fact
Is encoded as U+1D10B MUSICAL SYMBOL SEGNO.
Contexts: Music

Visual description

A slanted letter S drawn with a doubled stroke, crossed diagonally by a straight line, with a small solid dot in each of the two opposite spaces the crossing creates.

Symmetry: point
Orientation: rotated

Used alongside: Coda sign
A dal segno al coda direction needs both marks to be readable.

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Unicode Code Chart: Musical Symbols (U+1D100–U+1D1FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-08-01
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in performance.
Dal segno
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Part of

Musical expression and technique marks

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Meanings

The segno marks a place to jump back to. It carries no instruction by itself — it is a destination, and something elsewhere in the score has to send the reader to it.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks the point a performer returns to when instructed by a dal segno direction.

Contexts: Music

Common modern usageVerified fact

Carries no instruction on its own: it is a destination, and the direction that sends a reader to it appears elsewhere.

Contexts: Music

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Is encoded as U+1D10B MUSICAL SYMBOL SEGNO.

Contexts: Music

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Unicode Code Chart: Musical Symbols (U+1D100–U+1D1FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-08-01
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in performance.
Dal segno
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols