*

See also: ᚕ, ٭‎, ★, ✶, ✴, and ⁂

* U+002A, * ASTERISK ← ) [U+0029] Basic Latin + → [U+002B]

﹡ U+FE61, ﹡ SMALL ASTERISK ← ﹠ [U+FE60] Small Form Variants ﹢ → [U+FE62]

＊ U+FF0A, ＊ FULLWIDTH ASTERISK ← ） [U+FF09] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ＋ → [U+FF0B]

Translingual

Symbol

*

1. (alchemy) Used as the symbol for sal ammoniac.
2. (astronomy) A star.
3. (computing)
   1. Used as a multiplication symbol.
   2. (regular expressions) Used as a wildcard to detect zero or more occurences of the preceding element.

      The string ab*c matches “ac”, “abc”, “abbc”, “abbbc”, and so on.

4. (mathematics)
   1. (algebra) Complex or transpose conjugate; conjugate.
   2. (algebra, computer science) Free monoid or Kleene star.

      In the language defined by AB*A, each string starts with an A, ends with a distinct A, and between them has zero or more Bs.

   3. (linear algebra, functional analysis) Dual space.
5. (particle physics) Used to designate a resonance.

Synonyms

• (multiplication symbol): ×, x, ·

Antonyms

• (multiplication symbol): :, /, ÷

Coordinate terms

• (multiplication symbol): +, -, /, %, ^, **

Derived terms

• * * (encloses text for emphasis)
• (astronomy): V*, Cl*
• (multiplication symbol): **

Punctuation mark

*

1. Used to censor sections of obscene or profane words.

   F**k You!

   1. (Internet slang) Used to censor non-offensive words to treat them as insulting or profane.

      T*rks, K*rds, S*nnis

2. Used in a dictionary or similar work to indicate a cross-reference to another entry.
   • 2014, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (in English), 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 25:

     analysis The process of breaking up *words, *phrases, *clauses, *sentences, *constructions, etc. into their *constituent parts.

3. Used at the beginning of a footnote, especially if it is the only one on the page, and after a word, phrase, or sentence that this footnote relates to.
4. (cricket) Used to marks a score or statistic that is incomplete, such as the score of a batsman who is (or was) not out.
5. (computing) Uses in computing.
   1. Used as a wildcard to denote zero or more characters.
   2. (Internet) Used to indicate a field of a form that must be filled out.
   3. (Internet slang) Used before or after a word to show a correction has been made, chiefly by the same participant.

      I'm our of time. / *out

6. (genealogy) Used before a date to denote that it is a birthdate.
7. Uses in linguistics.
   1. (descriptive linguistics) Used before a term (such as a word, phrase, or sentence) to show that it is grammatically incorrect, or in some other way ill-formed.

      English prepositions come before the associated noun: we say She lives in Rome, not *She lives Rome in.

      Roots like **bep- were not allowed in Proto-Indo-European.

   2. (historical linguistics) Used before or after a term to denote that it is only hypothesized and not actually attested.
      1. When used before a term: that the term has been reconstructed by a linguist, on the basis of comparative method or by comparing other reconstructed terms, as the plausible ancestor form of an existing, attested term in one or more languages.

         It is posited that Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰos is the etymon of both Latin nix and English snow.

         His theory of the Proto-Slavic *kъniga being ultimately derived from Chinese, via the middle form *kūinig, reflecting ancient routes of cultural influx from the East, has not gained a firm ground in the Slavicist circles in the last century.

      2. When used doubly before a term: that the term has been invented for the sake of argument and is not assumed to have been real.

         If Hebrew תָּמָר‎ (tāmār, “dates”) were cognate to Aramaic תְּמָרָא‎ (təmārā, “dates”) instead of being borrowed from it, the Hebrew form would be שָׁמָר**‎ (šāmār), for thus is the regular correspondence of the Proto-Semitic *ṯ present in its cognate Arabic ثَمَر‎ (ṯamar, “fruits”).

      3. When used after a term: that the term is actually attested, but not in its citation form that is being mentioned.

         PIE *ḱonk- yielded Vedic śaṅk-ate “worries, hesitates”, as well as pre-Germanic *kank-, whence also Gothic hāhan* “to hang”.

      4. When used before a symbol representing a phoneme: that the phoneme is reconstructed on the basis of comparative method.

         Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives: */f/, */þ/, and */h/.

      5. When used before a symbol representing a sound value: that the sound value is hypothesized.

         Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives, possibly representing *[ɸ], *[θ], and *[x].

8. Used to indicate emphasis, see * *.
9. Used to form a dinkus, * * *, or asterism, ⁂.

Usage notes

• The English names of the mark are asterisk and star.
• In Internet slang, when two or more corrections are made, one may add a * with each correction.

  I just got back from Sarcamento / *Sacarmento / **Sacramento

Synonyms

• (in censoring): ■, —
• (as wildcard): %
• (genealogy): °

Antonyms

• (genealogy): † / ✝ / + (French)

Coordinate terms

• (beginning a footnote): †, ‡, **, [numbers]
• (as wildcard): ?
• (genealogy): ⚭ / ✕, ⚮, ⚵ (German)
• (grammatically incorrect): ?

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English

Symbol

*

1. (text messaging) Used to correct a previous typo.

   Hpw are you?, How* ― I meant to type How.

2. (text messaging) star

   ur a *! ― You're a star!

3. (text messaging) Used to replace the sounds /stɑː(ɹ)/ (star) in any word that has this pronunciation or similar.

   *t ― start

   *fish ― starfish

   *g8 ― stargate

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German

Symbol

*

1. (nonstandard) the Gendersternchen; Used to separate multiple gendered inflections in "gender-neutral" writing.

   Freund*innen; ein*e Beamt*er*in; Witwe*r

   friends (of any gender); an officer (of any gender); widower (of any gender)

Usage notes

• While often claimed to be "gender-neutral", these forms instead emphasize the gender, when spoken with a glottal stop usually have a female bias (sounding similar to words suffixed with -in (“feminine suffix”)), and need some additional explanation that * (or _) is meant to also include queers.
• Several issues arise with these forms, compare:
  • Freunde m pl, Freundinnen f pl → Freund*innen, where the e of the masculine term is dropped and it's not Freunde*innen
  • Arzt m, Ärztin f → Ärzt*in, where the umlaut-less A is not present
  • ein Abgeordneter m, eine Abgeordnete f → ein*e Abgeordnete*r, where the feminine-like ein*e occurs together with the masculine-like Abgeordnete*r
  • Mitglied n (“member”); Mensch m (“human”); Hungerhaken m (“beanpole”), Gernegroß m (“wannabe”), Tunichtgut m (“ne'er-do-well”); genius n, Genius m (“genius”); Nerd m, Star m, Teen m (borrowed from English) – all are without a (common, standard) feminine equivalent
  • Bohnenstange f (“beanpole”), Glatze f (“skinhead”), rechte Hand f (“right hand”); Persona non grata f – all are without a (common, standard) masculine equivalent
  • Junge m (“boy”), Mädchen n (“girl”); Mann m (“man”), Frau f (“woman”) or Weib n (“woman”) (dated); Bruder m (“brother”), Schwester m (“sister”) – where also the stems are different

Synonyms

• : (as in Freund:innen; nonstandard, rare)
• _ (as in Freund_innen; nonstandard)
• / (as in Freund/innen; nonstandard, proscribed)
• /- (as in Mitarbeiter/-innen)
• () (as in Mitarbeiter(innen))
• (m/w/d) (as in Freund (m/w/d))
• capital I in -in (“feminine suffix”) (as in FreundInnen; nonstandard, proscribed)

"gender-neutral", but binary only:

• und (as in Freunde und Freundinnen)
• männlich und weiblich (as in männliche und weibliche Freunde)
• beiderlei Geschlechts (as in Freunde beiderlei Geschlechts)
• (m/w) (as in Freund (m/w))