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Translingual
Symbol
* (English symbol name asterisk)
- (alchemy) Sal ammoniac (6 or 8 point).
- (astronomy) A star (5 or 6 point).
- (Internet slang) Alternative form of * * (“encloses an interpretation”)
- I can't see anything! – Hold on a second… *turns the light on
- (computing) Used as a multiplication symbol; ×.
- (regular expressions) Used as a wildcard to detect zero or more occurrences of the preceding element.
- The string
ab*cmatches “ac”, “abc”, “abbc”, “abbbc”, and so on.
- (mathematics)
- (algebra) Complex or transpose conjugate; conjugate.
- (algebra, computer science) Free monoid or Kleene star.
- In the language defined by
AB*A, each string starts with an A, ends with a distinct A, and between them has zero or more Bs.
- (linear algebra, functional analysis) Dual space.
- (meteorology) Snow (6 point).
- (particle physics) Used to designate a resonance.
- (IPA) a reserved symbol with no set meaning, that needs to be defined by the transcriber. May be used as a letter or as a diacritic.
- (linguistics)
- (descriptive linguistics) Used before a term (such as a word, phrase, or sentence) to show that it is grammatically incorrect, or in some other way ill-formed.
- (historical linguistics) Used before or after a term to denote that it is only hypothesized and not actually attested.
- When used before a term: that the term has been reconstructed by a linguist, on the basis of comparative method or by comparing other reconstructed terms, as the plausible ancestor form of an existing, attested term in one or more languages.
- Coordinate term: **
- His theory of the Proto-Slavic *kъniga being ultimately derived from Chinese, via the middle form *kūinig, reflecting ancient routes of cultural influx from the East, has not gained a firm ground in the Slavicist circles in the last century.
- When used after a term: that the term is actually attested, but not in its citation form that is being mentioned.
- PIE *ḱonk- yielded Vedic śaṅk-ate “worries, hesitates”, as well as pre-Germanic *kank-, whence also Gothic hāhan* “to hang”.
- When used before a symbol representing a phoneme: that the phoneme is reconstructed on the basis of comparative method.
- Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives: */f/, */þ/, and */h/.
- When used before a symbol representing a sound value: that the sound value is hypothesized.
- Proto-Germanic had three unvoiced fricatives, possibly representing *[ɸ], *[θ], and *.
- When used before a term: that the term has been reconstructed by a linguist, on the basis of comparative method or by comparing other reconstructed terms, as the plausible ancestor form of an existing, attested term in one or more languages.
- (music) A pointing mark in Anglican chant, which marks a place in the text where an extra breath should be taken, resulting in a brief pause.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
- * * (encloses text for emphasis)
- (astronomy): V*, Cl*
- (multiplication symbol): **
- (wildcard): *.*
- (linguistics): **
Punctuation mark
*
- Used to censor sections of obscene or profane words.
- Used in a dictionary or similar work to indicate a cross-reference to another entry.
- 2014, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd edition (in English), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 25:
- analysis The process of breaking up *words, *phrases, *clauses, *sentences, *constructions, etc. into their *constituent parts.
- Used at the beginning of a footnote, especially if it is the only one on the page, and after a word, phrase, or sentence that this footnote relates to.
- (by extension) Used at the beginning of a clarifying statement or disclaimer, especially if it is the only one on the page.
- 2022 August 5, “Monkeypox 2022 U.S. Map & Case Count”, in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, archived from the original on 2022-08-05:
- Total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases: 7,102
*One Florida case is listed here but included in the United Kingdom case counts because the individual was tested while in the UK.
- (cricket) Used to marks a score or statistic that is incomplete, such as the score of a batsman who is (or was) not out.
- (chiefly computing) Uses especially in computing.
- Used as a wildcard to denote zero or more characters.
- trans* ― transgender or transsexual
- (Internet) Used to indicate a field of a form that must be filled out.
- (Internet slang) Used before or after a word to show a correction has been made, chiefly by the same participant.
- I'm our of time. / *out
- Used as a wildcard to denote zero or more characters.
- (genealogy) Used before a date to denote that it is a birthdate.
- Used to indicate emphasis, see * *.
- Used to form a dinkus, * * *, or asterism, ⁂.
Usage notes
- The English names of the mark are asterisk and star.
- In Internet slang, when two or more corrections are made, one may add a * with each correction.
- I just got back from Sarcamento / *Sacarmento / **Sacramento
Synonyms
Antonyms
Coordinate terms
- (beginning a footnote): †, ‡, **,
- (as wildcard): ?
- (genealogy): ⚭ / ✕, ⚮, ⚵ (German)
- (grammatically incorrect): ?
English
Symbol
*
- (text messaging) Star.
- ur a *! ― You’re a star!
- (text messaging) Used to replace the sounds /stɑː(ɹ)/ (star) in any word that has this pronunciation or similar.
- (astronomy) ＊: A star (also ✶ or ⚹).
German
Symbol
*
- (nonstandard) the Gendersternchen; Used to separate multiple gendered inflections in gender-neutral writing.
- Freund*innen; ein*e Beamt*er*in; Witwe*r
- friends (of any gender); an officer (of any gender); widower (of any gender)
- 2020 February 23, Alexander Diehl, “Hamburger Küche: Aal kann – muss aber nicht”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz, →ISSN:
- Aber genauer besehen sind sie in Hamburg ja Lutheraner*innen, und Luther war das Leibliche so fern nun wieder nicht.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Usage notes
- In speech either expanded (Spieler*in → Spieler oder Spielerin), or realized with a glottal stop /ˈʃpiːləʁʔɪn/.
- Issues can arise with some forms, compare:
- Freunde m pl, Freundinnen f pl → Freund*innen, where the e of the masculine term is dropped and it's not Freunde*innen
- Arzt m, Ärztin f → Ärzt*in, where the umlaut-less A is not present
- ein Abgeordneter m, eine Abgeordnete f → ein*e Abgeordnete*r, where the feminine-like ein*e occurs together with the masculine-like Abgeordnete*r
Synonyms
- : (as in Freund:innen; nonstandard, rare)
- _ (as in Freund_innen; nonstandard)
- / (as in Freund/innen; nonstandard, proscribed)
- /- (as in Mitarbeiter/-innen)
- () (as in Mitarbeiter(innen))
- (m/w/d) (as in Mitarbeiter (m/w/d))
- capital I in -in (“feminine suffix”) (as in FreundInnen; nonstandard, proscribed)
"gender-neutral", but binary only: