What Are the Proper Names for Keyboard Symbols?

By Staff WriterLast Updated Apr 9, 2020 8:04:34 AM ET

Ampersand, apostrophe and asterisk are the proper names for three keyboard symbols. Names for other symbols on the keyboard include the at sign, dollar sign, exclamation mark, number sign, quotation mark and slash.

Ampersand is the proper name for the keyboard symbol &, which is the Latin for et and means “and.” Apostrophe is the proper name for the symbol “’”, which indicates contraction. It is also used for possessives. In mathematics this symbol is used to denote feet, minutes or other divisions into parts.

The asterisk is the symbol that looks like a star. It is used in many fields including mathematics, literature and computing. This symbol is used to denote repetition, multiplication and footnotes. Its shape varies according to fonts. It may appear as two diagonal lines and one horizontal line or three crossed lines.

The at sign means at each or each. This symbol is a combination of e and a. It is a required component of all email addresses.

The exclamation is the punctuation mark used to denote extreme happiness, surprise, shouting or other exclamatory statements. The number or pound sign, #, is called a hash in some countries.

Quotation marks are used around the title of short stories and text that is quoted word-by-word. Slash, /, is used in various contents such as Web addresses and mathematical expressions.