Mathematical Symbols

Mathematical Symbols

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Basic mathematical symbols with name, meaning, and examples :

The basic mathematical symbols used in Mathematics help us to work with mathematical concepts in a theoretical way. In simple words, without symbols, we cannot do mathematics.

Mathematical signs and symbols are considered representative of value.

The basic symbols in mathematics are used to express mathematical thoughts. 

The relationship between sign and value refers to the fundamental need of mathematics. With the help of symbols, certain concepts and ideas are clearly explained.

Here is a list of commonly used math symbols with names and meanings.

In addition, an example is provided to understand the use of mathematical symbols.

Symbol	Symbol Name in Maths	Math Symbols Meaning	Example
≠	not equal sign	inequality	10 ≠ 6
=	equal sign	equality	3 = 1 + 2
<	strict inequality	less than	7 < 10
>	strict inequality	greater than	6 > 2
≤	inequality	less than or equal to	x ≤ y, means, y = x or y > x, but not vice-versa.
≥	inequality	greater than or equal to	a ≥ b, means, a = b or a > b, but vice-versa does not hold true.
[ ]	brackets	calculate expression inside first	[ 2×5] + 7 = 10 + 7 =  17
( )	parentheses	calculate expression inside first	3 × (3 + 7) = 3 × 10 = 30
−	minus sign	subtraction	5 − 2 = 3
+	plus sign	addition	4 + 5 = 9
∓	minus – plus	both minus and plus operations	1 ∓ 4 = -3 and 5
±	plus – minus	both plus and minus operations	5 ± 3 = 8 and 2
×	times sign	multiplication	4 × 3 = 12
*	asterisk	multiplication	2 * 3 = 6
÷	division sign / obelus	division	15 ÷ 5 = 3
∙	multiplication dot	multiplication	2 ∙ 3 = 6
–	horizontal line	division / fraction	8/2 = 4
/	division slash	division	6 ⁄ 2 = 3
mod	modulo	remainder calculation	7 mod 3 = 1
ab	power	exponent	24 = 16
.	period	decimal point, decimal separator	4.36 = 4 +(36/100)
√a	square root	√a · √a = a	√9 = ±3
a^b	caret	exponent	2 ^ 3 = 8
4√a	fourth root	4√a ·4√a · 4√a · 4√a = a	4√16= ± 2
3√a	cube root	3√a ·3√a · 3√a = a	3√343 = 7
%	percent	1% = 1/100	10% × 30 = 3
n√a	n-th root (radical)	n√a · n√a · · · n times = a	for n=3, n√8 = 2
ppm	per-million	1 ppm = 1/1000000	10ppm × 30 = 0.0003
‰	per-mille	1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1%	10‰ × 30 = 0.3
ppt	per-trillion	1ppt = 10-12	10ppt × 30 = 3×10-10
ppb	per-billion	1 ppb = 1/1000000000	10 ppb × 30 = 3×10-7

Maths Logic symbols With Meaning :

Symbol	Symbol Name in Maths	Math Symbols Meaning	Example
^	caret / circumflex	and	x ^ y
·	and	and	x · y
+	plus	or	x + y
&	ampersand	and	x & y
|	vertical line	or	x | y
∨	reversed caret	or	x ∨ y
X̄	bar	not – negation	x̄
x’	single-quote	not – negation	x’
!	Exclamation mark	not – negation	! x
¬	not	not – negation	¬ x
~	tilde	negation	~ x
⊕	circled plus / oplus	exclusive or – xor	x ⊕ y
⇔	equivalent	if and only if (iff)	p: this year has 366 days q: this is a leap year p ⇔ q
⇒	implies	Implication	p: a number is a multiple of 4 q: the number is even p ⇒ q
∈	Belong to/is an element of	Set membership	A = {1, 2, 3} 2 ∈ A
∉	Not element of	Negation of set membership	A={1, 2, 3} 0 ∉ A
∀	for all	Universal Quantifier	2n is even ∀ n ∈ N where N is a set of Natural Numbers
↔	equivalent	if and only if (iff)	p: x is an even number q: x is divisible by 2 p ↔ q
∄	there does not exist	Negation of existential quantifier	b is not divisible by a, then ∄ n ∈ N such that b = na
∃	there exists	Existential quantifier	b is divisible by a, then ∃ n ∈ N such that b = na
∵	because / since	Because shorthand	a = b, b = c ⇒ a = c (∵ a = b)
∴	therefore	Therefore shorthand (Logical consequence)	x + 6 = 10 ∴ x = 4

Greek alphabet letters used in mathematics :

Mathematicians frequently use Greek alphabets in their work to represent variables, constants, functions, etc.

Some of the Greek symbol names commonly used in mathematics are listed below:

Greek Symbol		Greek Letter Name	English Equivalent	Pronunciation
Upper Case	Lower Case
Β	β	Beta	b	be-ta
Α	α	Alpha	a	al-fa
Δ	δ	Delta	d	del-ta
Γ	γ	Gamma	g	ga-ma
Ζ	ζ	Zeta	z	ze-ta
Ε	ε	Epsilon	e	ep-si-lon
Θ	θ	Theta	th	te-ta
Η	η	Eta	h	eh-ta
Κ	κ	Kappa	k	ka-pa
Ι	ι	Iota	i	io-ta
Μ	μ	Mu	m	m-yoo
Λ	λ	Lambda	l	lam-da
Ξ	ξ	Xi	x	x-ee
Ν	ν	Nu	n	noo
Ο	ο	Omicron	o	o-mee-c-ron
Π	π	Pi	p	pa-yee
Σ	σ	Sigma	s	sig-ma
Ρ	ρ	Rho	r	row
Υ	υ	Upsilon	u	oo-psi-lon
Τ	τ	Tau	t	ta-oo
Χ	χ	Chi	ch	kh-ee
Φ	φ	Phi	ph	f-ee
Ω	ω	Omega	o	o-me-ga
Ψ	ψ	Psi	ps	p-see

The logic symbols in maths are :

AND (^)

OR (∨)

NOT (¬)

Implies (⇒)

Equivalent (⇔)

For all (∀)

There exists (∃)

Common Number Symbols Used in Mathematics :

Roman numerals are used in many applications and can be seen in our real-life activities. Common number symbols used in Mathematics are as follows.

Name	European	Roman	Arabic	Hebrew
zero	0	n/a	0	n/a
one	1	I	١	א
two	2	II	٢	ב
three	3	III	٣	ג
four	4	IV	٤	ד
five	5	V	٥	ה
six	6	VI	٦	ו
seven	7	VII	٧	ז
eight	8	VIII	٨	ח
nine	9	IX	٩	ט
ten	10	X	١٠	י
eleven	11	XI	١١	יא
twelve	12	XII	١٢	יב
thirteen	13	XIII	١٣	יג
fourteen	14	XIV	١٤	יד
fifteen	15	XV	١٥	טו
sixteen	16	XVI	١٦	טז
seventeen	17	XVII	١٧	יז
eighteen	18	XVIII	١٨	יח
nineteen	19	XIX	١٩	יט
twenty	20	XX	٢٠	כ
thirty	30	XXX	٣٠	ל
forty	40	XL	٤٠	מ
fifty	50	L	٥٠	נ
sixty	60	LX	٦٠	ס
seventy	70	LXX	٧٠	ע
eighty	80	LXXX	٨٠	פ
ninety	90	XC	٩٠	צ
one hundred	100	C	١٠٠	ק