There are a lot of symbols that are not present on a standard keyboard (mathematical, technical, currency symbols, etc.). Also, there are symbols, which cannot be used because they can cause confusion. For example, we cannot use (>) greater than because in HTML this symbol stands for a tag, and the browser won’t show it.

In HTML, the entities display reserved characters, which can be confused with HTML code or invisible characters, like non-breaking spaces. Also, characters that are difficult or impossible to type with a keyboard.

You can use an HTML entity name to add such symbols to an HTML page. If an entity name does not exist, you can use a decimal, hexadecimal reference, or entity number. An entity name is easy to remember. But these names may not be supported by browsers. However, the support for numbers is good.

An HTML entity begins with an ampersand (&) and ends with a semicolon.

Character Entities Commonly Used in HTML

Result Description Entity Name Entity Number
non-breaking space    
< less than &lt; &#60;
> greater than &gt; &#62;
& ampersand &amp; &#38;
¢ cent &cent; &#162;
£ pound &pound; &#163;
¥ yen &yen; &#165;
euro &euro; &#8364;
§ section &sect; &#167;
© copyright &copy; &#169;
® registered trademark &reg; &#174;
trademark &trade; &#8482;

Math Symbols Supported by HTML

Character Entity Number Entity Name Description
&#8704; &forall; for all
&#8706; &part; part
&#8707; &exist; exists
&#8709; &empty; empty
&#8711; &nabla; nabla
&#8712; &isin; isin
&#8713; &notin; notin
&#8715; &ni; ni
&#8719; &prod; prod
&#8721; &sum; sum
&#8722; &minus; minus
&#8727; &lowast; lowast
&#8730; &radic; square root
&#8733; &prop; proportional to
&#8734; &infin; infinity
&#8736; &ang; angle
&#8743; &and; and
&#8744; &or; or
&#8745; &cap; cap
&#8746; &cup; cup
&#8747; &int; integral
&#8756; &there4; therefore
&#8764; &sim; similar to
&#8773; &cong; congruent to
&#8776; &asymp; almost equal
&#8800; &ne; not equal
&#8801; &equiv; equivalent
&#8804; &le; less or equal
&#8805; &ge; greater or equal
&#8834; &sub; subset of
&#8835; &sup; superset of
&#8836; &nsub; not subset of
&#8838; &sube; subset or equal
&#8839; &supe; superset or equal
&#8853; &oplus; circled plus
&#8855; &otimes; circled times
&#8869; &perp; perpendicular
&#8901; &sdot; dot operator

Greek Letters Supported by HTML

Character Entity Number Entity Name Description
Α &#913; &Alpha; Alpha
Β &#914; &Beta; Beta
Γ &#915; &Gamma; Gamma
Δ &#916; &Delta; Delta
Ε &#917; &Epsilon; Epsilon
Ζ &#918; &Zeta; Zeta
Η &#919; &Eta; Eta
Θ &#920; &Theta; Theta
Ι &#921; &Iota; Iota
Κ &#922; &Kappa; Kappa
Λ &#923; &Lambda; Lambda
Μ &#924; &Mu; Mu
Ν &#925; &Nu; Nu
Ξ &#926; &Xi; Xi
Ο &#927; &Omicron; Omicron
Π &#928; &Pi; Pi
Ρ &#929; &Rho; Rho
Σ &#931; &Sigma; Sigma
Τ &#932; &Tau; Tau
Υ &#933; &Upsilon; Upsilon
Φ &#934; &Phi; Phi
Χ &#935; &Chi; Chi
Ψ &#936; &Psi; Psi
Ω &#937; &Omega; Omega
       
α &#945; &alpha; alpha
β &#946; &beta; beta
γ &#947; &gamma; gamma
δ &#948; &delta; delta
ε &#949; &epsilon; epsilon
ζ &#950; &zeta; zeta
η &#951; &eta; eta
θ &#952; &theta; theta
ι &#953; &iota; iota
κ &#954; &kappa; kappa
λ &#955; &lambda; lambda
μ &#956; &mu; mu
ν &#957; &nu; nu
ξ &#958; &xi; xi
ο &#959; &omicron; omicron
π &#960; &pi; pi
ρ &#961; &rho; rho
ς &#962; &sigmaf; sigmaf
σ &#963; &sigma; sigma
τ &#964; &tau; tau
υ &#965; &upsilon; upsilon
φ &#966; &phi; phi
χ &#967; &chi; chi
ψ &#968; &psi; psi
ω &#969; &omega; omega
       
ϑ &#977; &thetasym; theta symbol
ϒ &#978; &upsih; upsilon symbol
ϖ &#982; &piv; pi symbol

Other Entities Supported by HTML

Character Entity Number Entity Name Description
Π&#338; &OElig; capital ligature OE
œ &#339; &oelig; small ligature oe
Š &#352; &Scaron; capital S with caron
š &#353; &scaron; small S with caron
Ÿ &#376; &Yuml; capital Y with diaeres
ƒ &#402; &fnof; f with hook
ˆ &#710; &circ; modifier letter circumflex accent
˜ &#732; &tilde; small tilde
&#8194; &ensp; en space
&#8195; &emsp; em space
&#8201; &thinsp; thin space
&#8204; &zwnj; zero width non-joiner
&#8205; &zwj; zero width joiner
&#8206; &lrm; left-to-right mark
&#8207; &rlm; right-to-left mark
&#8211; &ndash; en dash
&#8212; &mdash; em dash
&#8216; &lsquo; left single quotation mark
&#8217; &rsquo; right single quotation mark
&#8218; &sbquo; single low-9 quotation mark
&#8220; &ldquo; left double quotation mark
&#8221; &rdquo; right double quotation mark
&#8222; &bdquo; double low-9 quotation mark
&#8224; &dagger; dagger
&#8225; &Dagger; double dagger
&#8226; &bull; bullet
&#8230; &hellip; horizontal ellipsis
&#8240; &permil; per mille
&#8242; &prime; minutes
&#8243; &Prime; seconds
&#8249; &lsaquo; single left angle quotation
&#8250; &rsaquo; single right angle quotation
&#8254; &oline; overline
&#8254; &oline; overline
&#8364; &euro; euro
&#8482; or #153; &trade; trademark
&#8592; &larr; left arrow
&#8593; &uarr; up arrow
&#8594; &rarr; right arrow
&#8595; &darr; down arrow
&#8596; &harr; left right arrow
&#8629; &crarr; carriage return arrow
&#8968; &lceil; left ceiling
&#8969; &rceil; right ceiling
&#8970; &lfloor; left floor
&#8971; &rfloor; right floor
&#9674; &loz; lozenge
&#9824; &spades; spade
&#9827; &clubs; club
&#9829; &hearts; heart
&#9830; &diams; diamond

Non-breaking Space

The non-breaking space (&nbsp;) is one of the most common character entities used in HTML. It is a space that doesn’t break into a new line. This means, that two words that are divided by a non-breaking space will stay together. Besides, the non-breaking space stops browsers from truncating spaces in HTML pages.

Diacritical Marks

When we say a diacritical mark, we mean a “glyph” that is added to a letter. Some of these marks, like grave ( ̀) and acute ( ́) are called accents. Diacritical marks may occur above and below a letter, between two letters or inside a letter.

Here is a list containing some diacritical marks:

Mark Character Construct Result
 ̀ a a&#768;
 ́ a a&#769;
̂ a a&#770;
 ̃ a a&#771;
 ̀ O O&#768;
 ́ O O&#769;
̂ O O&#770;
 ̃ O O&#771;

Practice Your Knowledge

Which of the following HTML entities can be used to define special characters that are reserved in HTML?

Quiz Time: Test Your Skills!

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