Tilde

A wavy horizontal stroke with several unrelated uses.

Also known as: Squiggle, Swung dash, Approximately sign

Keyboard & punctuationEveryday & digitalQuiet profile

Meanings

The tilde is a small wave with an unusual spread of jobs: an accent in Spanish and Portuguese, approximation in mathematics, and a home directory on a Unix system.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks nasalisation over a vowel in Portuguese, and distinguishes the letter enye in Spanish.
Contexts: Software
Common modern usageVerified fact
Means approximately when placed before a number.
Contexts: Mathematics
Common modern usageVerified fact
Stands for the current user's home directory on Unix-style systems.
Contexts: Software

Visual description

A short horizontal stroke with a single smooth wave in it, rising then falling, set at the height of the line or above it.

A fuller structured visual breakdown is not yet documented for this symbol.

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
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.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Unicode Code Chart: Basic Latin (U+0000–U+007F)
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 2026-08-01

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Punctuation and keyboard marks

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Meanings

The tilde is a small wave with an unusual spread of jobs: an accent in Spanish and Portuguese, approximation in mathematics, and a home directory on a Unix system.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks nasalisation over a vowel in Portuguese, and distinguishes the letter enye in Spanish.

Contexts: Software

Common modern usageVerified fact

Means approximately when placed before a number.

Contexts: Mathematics

Common modern usageVerified fact

Stands for the current user's home directory on Unix-style systems.

Contexts: Software

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
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.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.