*

See also: ✱, ᚕ, ٭, 𐠂, 𐠀, ★, ✶, ✴, ꙳, ᕯ, and ⁂

Text style	Emoji style
*︎	*️
Text style is forced with ⟨︎⟩ and emoji style with ⟨️⟩.
* U+002A, * ASTERISK ← ) [U+0029] Basic Latin + → [U+002B]

Character variations

⁎ U+204E, ⁎ LOW ASTERISK ← ⁍ [U+204D] General Punctuation ⁏ → [U+204F]

✱ U+2731, ✱ HEAVY ASTERISK ← ✰ [U+2730] Dingbats ✲ → [U+2732]

✲ U+2732, ✲ OPEN CENTRE ASTERISK ← ✱ [U+2731] Dingbats ✳ → [U+2733]

✻ U+273B, ✻ TEARDROP-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✺ [U+273A] Dingbats ✼ → [U+273C]

✼ U+273C, ✼ OPEN CENTRE TEARDROP-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✻ [U+273B] Dingbats ✽ → [U+273D]

✽ U+273D, ✽ HEAVY TEARDROP-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✼ [U+273C] Dingbats ✾ → [U+273E]

❉ U+2749, ❉ BALLOON-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ❈ [U+2748] Dingbats ❊ → [U+274A]

✢ U+2722, ✢ FOUR TEARDROP-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✡ [U+2721] Dingbats ✣ → [U+2723]

✣ U+2723, ✣ FOUR BALLOON-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✢ [U+2722] Dingbats ✤ → [U+2724]

✤ U+2724, ✤ HEAVY FOUR BALLOON-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✣ [U+2723] Dingbats ✥ → [U+2725]

✥ U+2725, ✥ FOUR CLUB-SPOKED ASTERISK ← ✤ [U+2724] Dingbats ✦ → [U+2726]

❃ U+2743, ❃ HEAVY TEARDROP-SPOKED PINWHEEL ASTERISK ← ❂ [U+2742] Dingbats ❄ → [U+2744]

❊ U+274A, ❊ EIGHT TEARDROP-SPOKED PROPELLER ASTERISK ← ❉ [U+2749] Dingbats ❋ → [U+274B]

❋ U+274B, ❋ HEAVY EIGHT TEARDROP-SPOKED PROPELLER ASTERISK ← ❊ [U+274A] Dingbats ❌ → [U+274C]

✺ U+273A, ✺ SIXTEEN POINTED ASTERISK ← ✹ [U+2739] Dingbats ✻ → [U+273B]

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

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

Translingual

Symbol

* (English symbol name asterisk)

1. (alchemy) Sal ammoniac (6 or 8 point).
2. (astronomy) A star (5 or 6 point).
3. (Internet slang) Alternative form of * * (“encloses an interpretation”)

   I can't see anything! – Hold on a second… *turns the light on

4. (computing) Used as a multiplication symbol; ×.
5. (regular expressions) Used as a wildcard to detect zero or more occurrences of the preceding element.

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

6. (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.
7. (meteorology) Snow (6 point).
8. (particle physics) Used to designate a resonance.
9. (IPA) A reserved symbol with no set meaning, that needs to be defined by the transcriber. May be used as a letter or as a diacritic.
10. (IPA, dated) Marks proper names that would be capitalized in orthography.

    *ɹɔdʒə *kiŋdənz tounmɑˑks ədæptid tə *frenʃ intouneiʃn

    Rodger Kindon's tone-marks adapted to French intonation

11. (linguistics)
    2. (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.

       Coordinate term: **

       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.

    3. (historical linguistics) Used before or after a term to denote that it is only hypothesized and not actually attested.
       2. 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 ancestral form of an existing, attested term in one or more languages.

          Coordinate term: **

          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.

       3. When used after a term: that the term is actually attested, but not in the specific inflectional form being mentioned (typically the citation form).

          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].

12. (music) A pointing mark in Anglican chant, which marks a place in the text where an extra breath should be taken, resulting in a brief pause.

    Coordinate terms: |, ', :, ⋅, —, ‖, †

Synonyms

• (multiplication symbol): ×, x, ·

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “multiplication symbol”): :, /, ÷

Coordinate terms

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

Derived terms

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

Punctuation mark

*

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

   Synonym: —

   F**k You!

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

      T*rks, K*rds

      wh*te "people"

2. (dated) Used to replace part or all of a person's name, a place name, a date, or so forth.

   Synonym: −

   • 1750, [William Gerard Hamilton], “Ode to the Right Honourable the Lady **** on the Death of Her Son”, in Four Odes. […], London: […] R. Manby and H. S. Cox […], →OCLC, title page:

     To the Right Hon. the Lady **** on the Death of her Son.

   • 1753, [dedication signed by Goma de Palajos], Reflections of ***** […] (in English), London: […] D. Wilson, and T. Durham, […], →OCLC
   • 1756, [Edmund Burke], A Vindication of Natural Society: Or, A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind from Every Species of Artificial Society. […] (in English), London: […] M. Cooper […], →OCLC, title page:

     In a Letter to Lord ****

   • 1760, Oliver Goldsmith, “Letter I. To Mr. **** Merchant in London”, in The Citizen of the World; or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, […], volume I (in English), London: […] [F]or the author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow, […]; J. Leake and W. Frederick, […]; B. Collins, […]; and A. M. Smart and Co. […], published 1762, →OCLC, page 1:

     YOURS of the 13th inſtant, covering two bills, one on Meſſrs. R. and D. value 478 l. 10 s. and the other on Mr. ****, value 285 l. duly came to hand, […]

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

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

4. 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.
5. (by extension) Used at the beginning of a clarifying statement or disclaimer, especially if it is the only one on the page.
   • 2022 August 5, “Monkeypox 2022 U.S. Map & Case Count”, in [United States] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 August 2022:

     Total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases: 7,102
     *One Florida case is listed here but included in the United Kingdom case counts because the individual was tested while in the UK.

6. (cricket) Used to marks a score or statistic that is incomplete, such as the score of a batsman who is (or was) not out.
7. (chiefly computing) Uses especially in computing.
   1. Used as a wildcard to denote zero or more characters.

      trans* ― transgender or transsexual

   2. (Internet) Used to indicate a field of a form that must be filled out.
   3. (software) Placed after a filename to indicate that the file's contents have been modified but not saved.
   4. (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

8. (genealogy) Used before a date to denote that it is a birthdate.
9. Used to indicate emphasis, see * *.
10. 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): ■, —
• (footnote): †, ‡, §, ‖, ¶
• (as wildcard): %
• (genealogy): °

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “genealogy”): † / ✝ / + (French)

Coordinate terms

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

English

Symbol

*

1. A star.

   ur a *! ― You’re a star!

2. (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

3. (text messaging) Used to replace censor profanities.

   f**k ― fuck

   sh*t ― shit

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); widow(er) (of any gender)

   • 2020 February 23, Alexander Diehl, “Hamburger Küche: Aal kann – muss aber nicht”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:

     Aber genauer besehen sind sie in Hamburg ja Lutheraner*innen, und Luther war das Leibliche so fern nun wieder nicht.

     But on closer inspection, those in Hamburg are in fact Lutherans [of all genders], and the bodily was not so distant from Luther after all.

Usage notes

• In speech either expanded (Spieler*in → Spieler oder Spielerin), or realized with a glottal stop /ˈʃpiːləʁʔɪn/.
• Issues can arise with some 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

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 Mitarbeiter (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))