~

See also: ˜ [U+02DC SMALL TILDE], ⁓ [U+2053 SWUNG DASH], ◌ٓ, and ◌ۤ

~ U+007E, ~ TILDE [unassigned: U+007F–U+009F] ← } [U+007D] Basic Latin   → [U+00A0]

◌̃ U+0303, ̃ COMBINING TILDE ← ◌̂ [U+0302] Combining Diacritical Marks ◌̄ → [U+0304]

～ U+FF5E, ～ FULLWIDTH TILDE ← ｝ [U+FF5D] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ｟ → [U+FF5F]

Translingual

Diacritical mark

~

1. (IPA) A modifier indicating nasalization.

   The French term "bon vivant" is pronounced /bɔ̃ vi.vɑ̃/.

Symbol

~

1. In East-Asian languages, indicates a range of numbers

   Example, 3~10 = "3 to 10"; ~9 = "up to nine"; 50~ = "50 and greater."

2. (mathematics) "is equivalent to"; "twiddles"
3. "is of the same order of magnitude as"
4. (logic) negation

   ~p

5. (linguistics) alternating with
6. (computing) user's home directory in Unix-like operating systems
7. (in dictionaries) Replaces the headword in derivatives or example sentences, to save space.

   black, adj: of the colour perceived in the absence of light. ~ eye: one that has been visibly bruised.

Usage notes

In English, this is called tilde. The symbol may be placed mid-line or superscript that depends on fonts, or use swung dash (⁓) that is always mid-line.

Distinguish two stacked nasal tildes from a double tilde:  ͌

Synonyms

• (logical negations): ¬, !
• (replaces the headword in example sentences): ⁓

Derived terms

• ~ ~ (encloses text to indicate snarkiness)

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English

Diacritical mark

~ (obsolete)

2. Written on a letter, usually a vowel, in place of an omitted n or m.

   cõtempt — contempt

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark j:[1–2], folio xliij, verso:

     The begyñyng off the Goſpell of Ieſu Chriſt the ſonne off God / as yt ys written in the prophettꝭ […]

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John ij:[15], folio cxxj, verso:

     And he [Jesus] made a ſcourge off ſmale cordes / and drave thẽ all out off the temple / bothe ſhepe and oxen / ãd powred doune the changers money / and overthrue their tables.

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts iij:[7–8], folio clvij, recto:

     And immediatly his fete ãd anclebones receaved ſtrenght / and he ſprange / ſtode / ãd alſo walked / ãd entred with them into the temple walkinge / and leapynge / and laudynge god.

   • 1580, T. Stapleton and Martiall (Two Popish Heretikes) Confuted, and of Their Particular Heresies Detected, London: Middleton, Henrie, page 167:

     And you ſhall finde, that the ſcriptures will instruct the man of God vnto all good works, & make him wiſe vnto ſaluation, if theſe wil not ſerue your turn, ſeeke where you wil, & find yͤ deuil & eternal damnatiõ.

   • c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 21”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 283, recto:

     Yet could she for some yeares, so carry her selfe among them, that they found cause in the delicacie of her sex, of admiration, not of cõtempt : & which was notable, even in the time that many countries were full of wars (which for old grudges to Corinth were thought still would conclude there) yet so hãdled she the matter, that the threatens ever smarted in the threatners; she using so straũge, and yet so well‐succeeding a temper, that she made her people by peace, warlike ; her courtiers by sports, learned ; her Ladies by Love, chast.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Peter 3:9, column 2:

     The Lord is not ſlacke cõcerning his promiſe (as ſome men count ſlackneſſe) […].

Etymology

(indicating emotion): Perhaps borrowed from Japanese ~, 〜, 〰, emphatic form of ー (long vowel mark).

Symbol

~

2. (mathematics, Internet, text messaging) approximately

   She brought ~10 shirts for a two-day trip.

4. (Internet, text messaging) Indicating joy, elation, excitement, or a playful tone.

   Awesome~ I hope you enjoy your trip!

See also

• (approximately): ≈

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Chinese

Alternative forms

• ～ (the fullwidth tilde)

Punctuation mark

~

1. Indicates the starting point of a range; from.
2. Indicating the lengthening of a pronunciation.

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Greenlandic

Diacritical mark

~

1. (in the old orthography) Used over a vowel to indicate gemination of both that vowel and the following consonant.

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Japanese

Alternative forms

• ～ (the fullwidth tilde)
• 〜 (the wave dash)

Punctuation mark

~

1. Indicates the starting point of a range; from.
2. Indicating the lengthening of a pronunciation.

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Korean

Alternative forms

• ~ (the halfwidth tilde)
• ～ (the fullwidth tilde)

Punctuation mark

~

1. Indicates the starting point of a range; from.
2. Indicating the lengthening of a pronunciation.

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Latin

Etymology

Developed in cursive writing from n on top.

Diacritical mark

~

1. Written on a letter, usually a vowel, in place of an omitted n or m.

   cũ — cum

   ī̃fluente — īnfluente

   ñ — nōn

   quīcũque — quīcumque or quīcunque

Descendants

• → Old English: ¯
• Old French: ~
  • Middle French: ~
• → German: ~
• Portuguese: ~
• Spanish: ~

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Middle English

Diacritical mark

~

1. Written on a letter, usually a vowel, in place of an omitted n or m.
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffe’s Bible, MS Egerton 617.)‎^[1], published c. 1390–1397, 8:7, page 20r, column 2:

     […] ne floodis ſchul not prowẽ it doũ.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: ~

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Middle French

Diacritical mark

~

1. Written on a letter, usually a vowel, in place of an omitted n or m.

   ã — an

   ẽ — en

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Old French

Diacritical mark

~

1. Written on a letter, usually a vowel, in place of an omitted n or m.

   ã — an

   cointemẽt — cointement

   ẽ — en

Descendants

• Middle French: ~

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Portuguese

Diacritical mark

~

1. A diacritical mark of the Latin script, called til (“tilde”) in Portuguese, and found on Ã/ã and Õ/õ.

Usage notes

• In the letter a, forms ã with the sound /ɐ̃/ followed by a semivowel or word-finally, as in avelã and canção, or in words derived from those, as in maçãzeira.
• In the letter o, forms õ with the sound /õ/ followed by a semivowel, as in canções and põem.
• Additionally, the same diacritical mark has had other uses in the past:
  • In the letter u, forms ũ with the sound /ũ/ followed by a vowel, as in hũa.
  • Abbreviation of m or n in the syllable coda, as in cõtãto (for contanto) and cõ (for com).
  • In the letter q, forms q̃ as an abbreviation of que and derivatives, as in q̃ for que, porq̃ for porque and paraq̃ for para que.
• The tilde can appear in nonstressed or stressed vowels alike:
  • A tilde can occur in an unstressed syllable in the same word as the acute or circumflex accent, as in sótão, órgão and bênção.
  • Multiple tildes can occur in augmentatives, as in aviãozão and leãozão.
  • In words with the suffixes -zinho (forms diminutives) and -mente (forms adverbs from adjectives, like the English suffix -ly), the stressed syllable changes and thus normally accents would be dropped, as in pé, pezinho; pálido, palidamente. That does not happen with the tilde: irmã, irmãzinha; alemã, alemãmente.

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Spanish

Diacritical mark

~

1. A diacritical mark of the Latin script, called virgulilla (“tilde”) in Spanish, and found on Ñ/ñ.

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Vietnamese

Diacritical mark

~

1. A diacritical mark of the Latin script, called dấu ngã (“tumbling mark”) in Vietnamese, and found on Ã/ã, Ẵ/ẵ, Ẫ/ẫ, Ẽ/ẽ, Ễ/ễ, Ĩ/ĩ, Õ/õ, Ỗ/ỗ, Ỡ/ỡ, Ũ/ũ, Ữ/ữ and Ỹ/ỹ. Used to indicate mid-rising, glottalized tone.

Usage notes

In some dialects of Vietnamese, particularly Saigonese, the mid-rising, glottalized tone is conflated with the mid falling-rising, harsh tone represented by ̉. Therefore, speakers of Saigonese often use ̉ in words that are spelled with a tilde in standard written Vietnamese.

In Vietnamese handwriting and signmaking, the letter I/i retains its tittle.

In Vietnamese handwriting, when the tilde is combined with the circumflex, the tilde's left side may be omitted and its right side curled.

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Yoruba

Diacritical mark

~

1. (obsolete) A diacritical mark of the Latin script, called àmì fàágùn (“lengthend mark”). Formerly used to indicate any sequence of tones on extended vowels

See also

tone marks

• ◌̀
• ◌́
• ◌̂
• ◌̄
• ◌̌