Important mathematical Symbols with name, meaning, and examples

June 18, 2022

written by Azhar Ejaz

Mathematical symbols make mathematical operations easier. Here I have given the most important symbols being used in mathematics.

Symbol	Read as	Meaning	Example
≠	not equal to	inequality	7 ≠ 4 7 is not equal to 4
=	Equal to	equality	10 + 12 = 22 22 is equal to 10 + 12
≈	approximately equal	approximation	π≈3.14
>	strict inequality	greater than	10 > 5 10 is greater than 5
<	strict inequality	less than	9 < 12 9 is less than 12
( )	parentheses	calculate expression inside first	4 x (5-1) = 4 x 4 = 16
[ ]	brackets	calculate expression inside first	[(4+2)×(6+3)] + 2  = [6 x 9] + 2 = 54 + 2 = 56
+	plus sign	addition	1 + 1 = 2
−	minus sign	subtraction	2 − 1 = 1
±	plus – minus	both plus and minus operations	3 ± 5 = 8 or -2
∓	minus – plus	both minus and plus operations	3 ∓ 5 = -2 or 8
*	asterisk	multiplication	5 * 4= 20
×	times sign	multiplication	9 x 3 = 27
⋅	multiplication dot	multiplication	3 . 6 = 18
÷	division sign / obelus	division	24 ÷ 6 = 4
≥	inequality	greater than or equal to	5 ≥ 4, x ≥ y means x is greater than or equal to y
≤	inequality	less than or equal to	4 ≤ 5, x ≤ y means x is less than or equal to y
/	division slash	division	8 / 2 = 4
—	horizontal line	division / fraction
⇒	material implication	implies	A⇒B means that if A is true, B must also be true, but if A is false, B is unknown.
⇔	material equivalence	if and only if	If A is true, B is true and if A is false, B is false.
x^y	caret	exponent	4 ^ 2 = 16
√a	square root	√a ⋅ √a  = a	√9 = ±3
3√a	cube root	3√a ⋅ 3√a  ⋅ 3√a  = a	3√8 = 2
4√a	fourth root	4√a ⋅ 4√a  ⋅ 4√a  ⋅ 4√a  = a	4√16 = ±2
n√a	n-th root (radical)		for n=3, n√8 = 2
%	percent	2% = 2/100	2% × 30 = 3
‰	per-mille	1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1%	10‰ × 30 = 0.3
≪	is much less than	If x ≪y, x is much less than y.	1≪999999999
≫	is much greater than	If x ≫y, x is much greater than y.	999999999≫0.001
|…|	absolute value	absolute value of	|x| is the distance along the real line (or across the complex plane) between x and zero
||	parallel	is parallel to	If A||B then A and B are parallel
⊥	perpendicular	is perpendicular to	If A⊥B then A is perpendicular to B
≅	congruence	is congruent to	If A≅B then shape A is congruent to shape B (has the same measurements)
φ	golden ratio	golden ratio	φ =3.14159265358979….
∞	infinity	infinity	∞ is a symbol used to represent unending amounts.
√a	square root	√a ⋅ √a  = a	√9 = ±3
3√a	cube root	3√a ⋅ 3√a  ⋅ 3√a  = a	3√8 = 2
4√a	fourth root	4√a ⋅ 4√a  ⋅ 4√a  ⋅ 4√a  = a	4√16 = ±2
n√a	n-th root (radical)		for n=3, n√8 = 2
mod	modulo	remainder calculation	24 mod 7 = 3
.	period	decimal point, decimal separator	4.345 = 4 + 345/1000

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