octothorp(an explanation of what it is and where it came from)
octothorp, octothorpe
1. The official name for the numbers sign which looks like: #
2. The symbol # on a telephone or keyboard. 3. A typographic symbol having two vertical lines intersected by two horizontal lines. It is also called the crosshatch, hash, numeral sign and number sign; in the U. S. it is commonly called the "pound sign"; especially, to designate the symbol as used on digital telephone dials, but this can be confusing to Europeans who think of the pound sign as the symbol for the British pound. It is commonly used as a symbol for the word "number"; as in #36 = "number thirty-six". Often seen in usage, but seldom found in a dictionaryThe printer's traditional name for a very common mark, the #. You probably know this glyph by one of its other names: the number, numeral, or pound sign; or, if you're a developer, the hash. The word "octothorp" is so obscure that isn't even in the Oxford English Dictionary (1st or 2nd editions). "Otherwise known as the numeral sign. It has also been used as a symbol for the pound avoirdupois, but this usage is now archaic. In cartography, it is also a symbol for village: eight fields around a central square, and this is the source of its name. Octothorp means eight fields."
Its traditional commercial use in the U.S. was such that when it followed a number, it was to be read as "pounds", as in 5# of sugar, and when it preceded a number, it was to be read "number", as in #2 pencil. Thus the same character in a printer's type case had two uses. If there are any numbers below, use them to see other pages in this unit.Back to Index | Search Box | Main Index The Main-Word Info pageThe + sign at the end of a unit title means all of the words in that unit have definitions.Directory of special content and topicsDo you want to help to make this dictionary bigger and better?
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