§

See also: ∮ and Appendix:Variations of "s"

§ U+00A7, § SECTION SIGN ← ¦ [U+00A6] Latin-1 Supplement ¨ → [U+00A8]

Translingual

Etymology

Maybe from SS, abbreviation for Latin signum sectiōnis (“section sign”).

Symbol

§ sg (plural §§, English name section sign)

1. A section of a text.

   Volume II, Article IV, § 5, ¶ 2.

   • 2021, Phillip E. Areeda, Louis Kaplow, Aaron S. Edlin, Antitrust Analysis: Problems, Text, and Cases (in English), page 412:

     Berkey, a competitor in photofinishing, alleged violations of §2 arising from Kodak's failure to predisclose the nature of the new film, which would have given it time to adapt to the new requirements.

   • 2025 January 30, “OCA – ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN ADVOCATES v. MARCO RUBIO, et al.”, in United States District Court for the District of Columbia‎^[1] (in English), page 2:

     Congress subsequently re-codified this principle in the United States Code. 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a).

2. Used to denote a fourth footnote (after *, †, and ‡ have already been used)

See also

• ¶

Swedish

A sign displaying the section symbol (§) as an ideogram to indicate information about the laws and regulations applicable to the nature reserve.

Etymology

Internationalism, see Translingual §.

Symbol

§ c (plural §§, Swedish name paragraftecken)

1. (law) § (section of a text)
   • 1851, Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Törnrosens bok, volume XIV, Stockholm: Hörbergska Boktryckeriet, page 98:

     Dorante. Nå, men det förekommer också verkligen nog många §§ och lagcitater i Amalia Hillner.

     Dorante. Well, but there are certainly quite enough sections and legal citations in Amalia Hillner too.

   • 1962, “3 kap. Om brott mot liv och hälsa [Chapter 3. On offences against life and health]”, in Brottsbalken [The Penal Code], published 2019:

     1 § Den som berövar annan livet, döms för mord till fängelse på viss tid, lägst tio och högst arton år, eller på livstid. […] 2 § Är brott som i 1 § sägs med hänsyn till de omständigheter som föranlett gärningen eller eljest att anse som mindre grovt, dömes för dråp till fängelse, lägst sex och högst tio år.

     Section 1 A person who takes the life of another shall be sentenced for murder to imprisonment for a fixed term of not less than ten and not more than eighteen years, or for life. […] Section 2 If an offence referred to in Section 1 is, having regard to the circumstances that prompted the act or otherwise, considered less serious, the offender shall be sentenced for manslaughter to imprisonment for not less than six and not more than ten years.

   • 2025 December 19, Sara Johansson, “Inga regelöverträdelser vid Alectas omfattande förluster”, in Dagens Juridik:

     Enligt FI har undersökningen varit inriktad på bestämmelser om bland annat system för riskhantering i 9 kap. 14 och 15 §§ lagen (2019:742) om tjänstepensionsföretag, LTF.

     According to the Financial Supervisory Authority, the investigation has focused on provisions concerning, among other things, risk management systems in Chapter 9, Sections 14 and 15 of the Act (2019:742) on pension companies (LTF).

   Near-synonym: paragraf

2. (ideogram) Used to symbolise law, or more broadly the judicial system.