View source for Commercial minus sign

{{Short description|Northern European form of minus sign}}
{{Infobox symbol
|mark=⁒
|name=Commercial minus sign
|unicode = {{unichar|2052|Commercial minus sign|html=}}
|different from = {{unichar|0025|Percent sign|nlink=}}<br />{{unichar|F7|Division sign|nlink= }}<br />{{unichar|066A|Arabic percent sign|nlink=}}
}}

The '''commercial minus sign''' is a typographical and [[Mathematics|mathematical]] symbol used in commercial and financial documents in some [[Earth:Europe|European]] languages, in specific contexts.<ref name=UC />

In some commercial and financial documents, especially in {{wipe|Germany}} and [[Place:Scandinavia|Scandinavia]], the symbol {{char|÷}} was used to indicate subtraction or to denote a negative quantity.<ref>{{cite book|title= Kaufmännische Arithmetik | author= Johann Philipp Schellenberg | page = 213| lang=DE | date=1825}}</ref><!-- This is not the 1805 edition online at https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=impnAAAAcAAJ -->{{efn|1=The symbol {{char|:}} was used to denote division, as in 6:3=2.<ref name=Silli1>{{cite web |title=Too narrowly defined: DIVISION SIGN & COLON |url=http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2012-m07/0053.html | author = Leif Halvard Silli | website= Unicode.org}}</ref> Use of the symbol {{char|÷}} for division is specific to Anglophone countries. The ISO 80000-2 standard for mathematical notation recommends only the solidus {{char|/}} or "fraction bar" for division, or the "colon" {{char|:}} for [[Ratio|ratio]]s; it says that the {{char|÷}} sign "should not be used" for division.<ref name=ISO>ISO 80000-2, Section 9 "Operations", 2-9.6</ref> }} The [[Organization:Unicode Consortium|Unicode Consortium]] has allocated the [[Code point|code point]] U+2052 to identify this usage uniquely,<ref name=Silli1 /><ref name=Silli2>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2014-m01/0018.html | title= Commercial minus as italic variant of division sign in German and Scandinavian context | author = Leif Halvard Silli | website= Unicode.org}}</ref> the exact form of the symbol displayed is typeface (font) dependent. The symbol is also used in the margins of letters to indicate an enclosure, where the upper point is sometimes replaced with the corresponding number.<ref name=UC>{{Cite book|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/ch06.pdf#G7935|title=The Unicode® Standard, Version 10.0|publisher=The Unicode Consortium|year=2017|isbn=978-1-936213-16-0|location=Mountain View, CA|chapter=Writing Systems and Punctuation}}</ref>

The [[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]] uses commercial minus signs to denote borrowed forms of a sound.<ref name=UC />

In {{wipe|Finland}}, it is used as a symbol for a correct response (the [[Check mark|check mark]] indicates an ''incorrect'' response).<ref name=UC /><ref name=Silli2 />

==Typographic variant==
In Germany, the form '''{{char|./.}}''' was historically an alternative to the formal glyph, since this could be conveniently typed on a typewriter. It also provides a convenient alternative means for typing on a modern keyboard, without needing to resort to [[Unicode input]].

In Japan, the triangle (either △ or ▲) is used as the commercial minus sign.<ref>{{Cite book |title=句読点、記号・符号活用辞典。 |publisher=小学館辞典編集部 |year=2007 |isbn=978-4095041766 |pages=183, 185 |language=ja}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Obelus]]{{snd}}the predecessor of this variant
* {{Annotated link |Division sign}}
* {{Annotated link |Plus and minus signs}}
* {{Annotated link |Percent sign}} 
**[[Percent sign#Unicode|Arabic percent sign]] {{char|٪}} (almost identical symbol except that the dots are squares rather than circles)

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Mathematical symbols]]
de:Minuszeichen

{{Sourceattribution|Commercial minus sign}}