Dagger (mark) facts for kids

The dagger symbol †, also called an obelisk or obelus, is a special mark used in writing. You often see it to point to a footnote at the bottom of a page, especially if an asterisk (*) has already been used.

This symbol also helps show that someone has died or that a type of animal or plant is extinct. It comes from an old symbol called the obelus, which scholars used long ago to mark parts of old books that seemed wrong or needed attention.

A double dagger or diesis ‡ looks like a dagger but with two crossbars. It's usually used for a third footnote. There's even a triple dagger ⹋ with three crossbars, used by experts who study the Middle Ages for special notes.

History of the Dagger Symbol

Three types of obelus symbols

The dagger symbol comes from an older mark called the obelus. This mark used to look like a simple line − or a line with dots ÷. It was meant to look like a sharp tool, like a roasting spit or a javelin. This showed that something in the text was being "cut out" or questioned.

An ancient Greek scholar named Zenodotus is thought to have created the obelus. He used it to mark words or sentences that seemed incorrect in old handwritten copies of famous poems like the Homeric epics.

Later, his student Aristophanes of Byzantium made the system even better. He added the asterisk (*) and used a symbol like ⊤ for the obelus. Then, Aristophanes' student, Aristarchus, further improved these marks. They became known as "Aristarchian symbols".

While the asterisk was used to show additions or corrections, the obelus was used to show things that should be removed or were doubtful. It helped scholars fix mistakes and compare different versions of important texts, like the Bible.

For example, an early Christian scholar named Origen (who lived around 184–253 AD) used the obelus to show differences between various versions of the Old Testament. Another scholar, St. Jerome (around 347–420 AD), explained that "an asterisk makes a light shine, the obelisk cuts and pierces." This shows how they saw the symbols: one for adding clarity, the other for removing errors.

Medieval scribes (people who copied books by hand) used these symbols a lot. The dagger was also used in early Christianity to show short pauses when chanting Psalms. It was like a breath mark.

In the 1500s, a printer named Robert Estienne used the dagger to show differences in words between different printed versions of the Greek New Testament.

Modern Uses of the Dagger

The dagger is still used today in many ways:

• Footnotes: It usually points to a footnote if an asterisk has already been used on the page. The double dagger ‡ is used for a third footnote.
• Death or Extinction: The dagger often means "died" or "is extinct."
  • When placed next to years, like †1950, it means the person died in 1950.
  • If it's right before or after someone's name, it means that person is deceased. This is sometimes called the "death dagger."
  • In biology, a dagger next to an animal or plant group name means that group is extinct.
  • In the Oxford English Dictionary, the dagger shows that a word is no longer used.
• Chess: In chess notation, a dagger after a move can mean the move resulted in a check. A double dagger can mean checkmate.
• Cricket: On a cricket scorecard, the dagger shows who the team's wicket-keeper is.
• Genealogy: In family history records, the dagger traditionally marks a death.
• Mathematics and Physics: In these subjects, a dagger can show a special type of operation on numbers or symbols.

Dagger and double-dagger symbols in different fonts. You can see how they look a bit different depending on the font.

Even though daggers are common in English writing, they are sometimes avoided in other languages, like German. This is because they look similar to the Christian cross. In German, daggers are mostly used only to show a person's death or the extinction of a word, language, or species.

How Daggers are Coded

These are the special codes for the dagger symbols:

• Error using : Input "2020" is not a hexadecimal value.
• Error using : Input "2021" is not a hexadecimal value.
• Error using : Input "2E36" is not a hexadecimal value.
• Error using : Input "2E37" is not a hexadecimal value.
• Error using : Input "2E38" is not a hexadecimal value.
• Error using : Input "2E4B" is not a hexadecimal value. – This is a version with three crossbars.
  

  A variant with three handles

Typing the Dagger Character

Here's how you can type these symbols on different computers:

Single dagger:

• In HTML (for websites): †
• Windows: Press and hold Alt, then type 0.
• MacOS: Press Option.
• Linux: Press Shift, then type 2, then press Enter.

Double dagger:

• In HTML (for websites): ‡
• Windows: Press and hold Alt, then type 0.
• MacOS: Press Option.
• Linux: Press Shift, then type 2, then press Enter.

Symbols That Look Similar

It's easy to confuse the dagger with other symbols.

• The single dagger † should not be confused with the Latin cross Error using : Input "271D" is not a hexadecimal value. or other cross symbols.
• The double dagger ‡ should not be confused with the Cross of Lorraine Error using : Input "2628" is not a hexadecimal value. or the Orthodox cross Error using : Input "2626" is not a hexadecimal value..

See also

• Annotation
• Marginalia
• Textual criticism