Angzarr
Mathematical symbol with obscure meaning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The angzarr (⍼) is an obscure typographical symbol with a vague, unconfirmed meaning. A typographic source from the 1950s and 1960s refers to it as a mathematical symbol for azimuth,[1][2] but it is not known to have ever been used in mathematics.
| ⍼ | |
|---|---|
Angzarr | |
| In Unicode | U+237C ⍼ RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW |
The symbol gained notoriety in the 2020s when researchers investigated how an unknown symbol became embedded in Unicode's character set, placing it into all modern computer systems.[3]
The name is from an abbreviation of its ISO 9573-13 name, "Angle with Down Zig-zag Arrow",[4] also reflected in its Unicode name, "Right Angle with Downwards Zigzag Arrow". Its HTML entity reference, originally defined in ISO 9573-13 for use in SGML, is ⍼.[4] It has been included in Unicode since version 3.2.
History
The earliest known usage of the Angzarr is found in H. Berthold AG typographic catalogs from the 1950s and 1960s.[1][2][5][6] In them, the symbol is listed under the Mathematical Symbols section, with the description "Azimut, Richtungswinkel" (lit. 'Azimuth, direction angle'); though no published usage is known. Herman Holmqvist also describes the symbol as Riktningsvinkel (lit. 'Direction angle') in a book about symbols published in 1964.[7]
From that apparent beginning, the Angzarr was swept up into the Monotype typeset catalog of arrow characters;[8][9] it was found in a 1963 Monotype typeset catalog of arrow characters, but not in an earlier 1954 edition of the same catalog.[9][10] Monotype listed the symbol as matrix serial number S9576.[8][9][11] A 1972 Monotype catalog for mathematical characters included the Angzarr under another serial number (S16139),[12][13] though no reason is known for the change.[9] It is unknown why Monotype added the character, or what purpose it was intended to serve.[14][13]
In 1988, the International Organization for Standardization added the symbol to its Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) definition, apparently pulling it from the Monotype character set.[15] The STIX Fonts project adopted the Angzarr symbol from the ISO's SGML characters.[16]
In March 2000, the Angzarr symbol reached wide distribution when the Unicode Technical Committee, in collaboration with the STIX project, proposed adding it to ISO/IEC 10646, the ISO standard with which the Unicode Standard is synchronised. The Angzarr was proposed in the ISO working-group document Proposal for Encoding Additional Mathematical Symbols, although no specific purpose is listed for the symbol.[17]
The lack of meaning associated with the Angzarr symbol gained notoriety in 2022 when a blog post was published on its unknown origins.[3] The blog was updated in 2023, confirming the appearance of Angzarr in a 1972 Monotype typeset catalogue with a scan of the page,[13][18] and in 2024, confirming its appearance in earlier Monotype catalogues.[9]
See also
- List of Unicode characters
- Ghost characters – Erroneous kanji
- Visually similar/related characters:
- Arrow (symbol)
- Right angle
- Line chart – 📈, 📉
- The chaos magic "Linking Sigil" = "LS" = "Ellis"