Basic math symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
5 = 2+3
= equals sign equality
5 is equal to 2+3
5≠4
≠ not equal sign inequality
5 is not equal to 4
sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01,
approximately x ≈ y means x is
≈ equal
approximation
approximately
equal to y
5>4
> strict inequality greater than
5 is greater than 4
4<5
< strict inequality less than
4 is less than 5
5 ≥ 4,
x ≥ y means x is
≥ inequality greater than or equal to
greater than or
equal to y
4 ≤ 5,
x ≤ y means x is
≤ inequality less than or equal to
less than or equal
to y
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
calculate expression
() parentheses
inside first
2 × (3+5) = 16
calculate expression
[] brackets
inside first
[(1+2)×(1+5)] = 18
+ plus sign addition 1+1=2
− minus sign subtraction 2−1=1
both plus and minus
± plus - minus
operations
3 ± 5 = 8 and -2
both minus and plus
± minus - plus
operations
3 ∓ 5 = -2 and 8
* asterisk multiplication 2*3=6
× times sign multiplication 2×3=6
multiplication
⋅ dot
multiplication 2⋅3=6
division sign /
÷ obelus
division 6÷2=3
/ division slash division 6/2=3
— horizontal line division / fraction
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
Mod modulo remainder calculation 7 mod 2 = 1
decimal point, decimal
. period
separator
2.56 = 2+56/100
ab power exponent 23 = 8
a^b caret exponent 2 ^ 3= 8
√a square root √a ⋅ √a = a √9 = ±3
√a
3 cube root 3
√a ⋅ 3√a ⋅ 3√a = a √8 = 2
3
4
√a ⋅ 4√a ⋅ √a ⋅ √a =
4 4
√a
4 fourth root
a
√16 = ±2
4
n-th root
n
√a (radical)
for n=3, n√8 = 2
% percent 1% = 1/100 10% × 30 = 3
‰ per-mille 1‰ = 1/1000 = 0.1% 10‰ × 30 = 0.3
10ppm × 30 =
ppm per-million 1ppm = 1/1000000
0.0003
10ppb × 30 =
Ppb per-billion 1ppb = 1/1000000000
3×10-7
ppt per-trillion 1ppt = 10-12 10ppt × 30 = 3×10-
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
10
Geometry symbols
Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l
∠ABC =
∠ angle formed by two rays
30°
measured
ABC = 30°
angle
spherical
angle
AOB = 30°
∟ right angle = 90° α = 90°
° degree 1 turn = 360° α = 60°
deg degree 1 turn = 360deg α = 60deg
′ prime arcminute, 1° = 60′ α = 60°59′
α=
″ double prime arcsecond, 1′ = 60″
60°59′59″
line infinite line
AB line segment line from point A to point B
Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l
ray line that start from point A
arc arc from point A to point B = 60°
⊥ perpendicular perpendicular lines (90° angle) AC ⊥ BC
|| parallel parallel lines AB | | CD
equivalence of geometric ∆ABC≅
≅ congruent to
shapes and size ∆XYZ
∆ABC~
~ similarity same shapes, not same size
∆XYZ
ΔABC≅
Δ triangle triangle shape
ΔBCD
|x-y| distance distance between points x and y | x-y | = 5
π = 3.141592654...
c = π⋅d =
π pi constant is the ratio between the circumference
2⋅π⋅r
and diameter of a circle
360° = 2π
rad radians radians angle unit
rad
c
radians radians angle unit 360° = 2π c
Symbo
Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
l
gradians / 360° = 400
grad grads angle unit
gons grad
gradians /
g
gons
grads angle unit 360° = 400 g
Algebra symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
unknown value to when 2x = 4, then x =
X x variable
find 2
≡ equivalence identical to
equal by
≜ definition
equal by definition
equal by
:= definition
equal by definition
approximately
~ equal
weak approximation 11 ~ 10
approximately
≈ equal
approximation sin(0.01) ≈ 0.01
y ∝ x when y = kx,
∝ proportional to proportional to
k constant
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
∞ lemniscate infinity symbol
≪ much less than much less than 1 ≪ 1000000
much greater
≫ than
much greater than 1000000 ≫ 1
calculate expression
() parentheses
inside first
2 * (3+5) = 16
calculate expression
[] brackets
inside first
[(1+2)*(1+5)] = 18
{} braces set
rounds number to
⌊x⌋ floor brackets
lower integer
⌊4.3⌋ = 4
rounds number to
⌈x⌉ ceiling brackets
upper integer
⌈4.3⌉ = 5
exclamation
x! mark
factorial 4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24
single vertical
|x| bar
absolute value | -5 | = 5
maps values of x to
f (x) function of x
f(x)
f (x) = 3x+5
function f (x)=3x,g(x)=x-1
(f ∘ g) composition (f ∘ g) (x) = f (g(x))
⇒(f ∘ g)(x)=3(x-1)
(a,b) open interval (a,b) = x∈ (2,6)
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
{x | a < x < b}
[a,b] =
[a,b] closed interval
{x | a ≤ x ≤ b}
x ∈ [2,6]
∆ delta change / difference ∆t = t1 - t0
∆ discriminant Δ = b2 - 4ac
summation - sum of
∑ sigma all values in range of ∑ xi= x1+x2+...+xn
series
∑∑ sigma double summation
product - product of
∏ capital pi all values in range of ∏ xi=x1∙x2∙...∙xn
series
e constant / e = lim
E Euler's number
e = 2.718281828...
(1+1/x)x , x→∞
Euler-
Γ Mascheroni γ = 0.527721566...
constant
Φ golden ratio golden ratio constant
π = 3.141592654...
is the ratio between the
π pi constant
circumference and
c = π⋅d = 2⋅π⋅r
diameter of a circle
Linear Algebra Symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
· dot scalar product a·b
× cross vector product a×b
tensor product of A and
A⊗B tensor product
B A⊗B
inner product
[] brackets matrix of numbers
() parentheses matrix of numbers
|A| determinant determinant of matrix A
det(A) determinant determinant of matrix A
double vertical
|| x || bars
norm
(AT)ij =
AT transpose matrix transpose
(A)ji
matrix conjugate (A†)ij =
A † Hermitian matrix
transpose
(A)ji
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
matrix conjugate (A*)ij =
A* Hermitian matrix
transpose
(A)ji
A -1 inverse matrix A A-1 = I
rank(A) matrix rank rank of matrix A rank(A) = 3
dim(U) dimension dimension of matrix A rank(U) = 3
Probability and statistics symbols
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
probability probability of
P(A) function event A
P(A) = 0.5
probability of
probability that of
P(A ∩ B) events
events A and B
P(A∩B) = 0.5
intersection
probability of probability that of
P(A ∪ B) events union events A or B
P(A∪B) = 0.5
P(A | B) conditional
probability
probability of
event A given
P(A | B) = 0.3
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
function event B occured
probability
P(a ≤ x ≤ b) = ∫
f (x) density
f (x) dx
function (pdf)
cumulative
F(x) distribution F(x) = P(X≤ x)
function (cdf)
population mean of
μ mean population values
μ = 10
expectation expected value of
E(X) value random variable X
E(X) = 10
expected value of
conditional
E(X | Y) expectation
random variable X E(X | Y=2) = 5
given Y
variance of
var(X) variance
random variable X
var(X) = 4
variance of
σ2 variance
population values
σ2 = 4
standard deviation
standard
std(X) deviation
of random variable std(X) = 2
X
σX standard
deviation
standard deviation σX = 2
value of random
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
variable X
middle value of
median
random variable x
covariance of
cov(X,Y) covariance random variables cov(X,Y) = 4
X and Y
corr(X,Y correlation
correlation of
random variables corr(X,Y) = 0.6
) X and Y
correlation of
ρX,Y correlation random variables ρX,Y = 0.6
X and Y
summation - sum
∑ summation of all values in
range of series
double
∑∑ summation
double summation
value that occurs
Mo mode most frequently in
population
MR =
MR mid-range
(xmax+xmin)/2
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
sample half the population
Md median is below this value
25% of population
lower / first
Q1 quartile
are below this
value
50% of population
median /
are below this
Q2 second
value = median of
quartile
samples
75% of population
upper / third
Q3 quartile
are below this
value
average / x = (2+5+9) / 3 =
x sample mean
arithmetic mean 5.333
population
sample
s 2
variance
samples variance s2 = 4
estimator
population
sample
samples standard
s standard
deviation
s=2
deviation
estimator
standard
zx score
zx = (x-x) / sx
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
distribution of distribution of
X~ X random variable X
X ~ N(0,3)
normal gaussian
N(μ,σ2) distribution distribution
X ~ N(0,3)
uniform equal probability
U(a,b) distribution in range a,b
X ~ U(0,3)
exponential
exp(λ) distribution
f (x) = λe-λx , x≥0
gamma f (x) = λ c xc-1e-
gamma(c, λ) distribution λx
/ Γ(c), x≥0
chi-square f (x) = xk/2-1e-x/2 / (
χ (k)
2
distribution 2k/2 Γ(k/2) )
F (k1, k2) F distribution
binomial f (k) = nCk pk(1-
Bin(n,p) distribution p)n-k
Poisson
Poisson(λ) distribution f (k) = λke-λ / k!
Meaning /
Symbol Symbol Name Example
definition
geometric
Geom(p) distribution
f (k) = p(1-p) k
hyper-
HG(N,K,n) geometric
distribution
Bernoulli
Bern(p) distribution
Combinatorics Symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Examp
n! factorial n! = 1⋅2⋅3⋅...⋅n 5! = 1⋅2⋅3⋅4⋅5 = 1
n Pk permutation 5P3 = 5! / (5-3)! =
nCk combination 5C3 = 5!/[3!(5-3)
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Examp
Set theory symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
A=
{} set a collection of elements {3,7,9,14},
B = {9,14,28}
objects that belong to A∩B=
A ∩ B intersection set A and set B {9,14}
objects that belong to A∪B=
A ∪ B union set A or set B {3,7,9,14,28}
A is a subset of B. set A {9,14,28} ⊆
A ⊆ B subset is included in set B. {9,14,28}
proper subset / A is a subset of B, but A {9,14} ⊂
A ⊂ B strict subset is not equal to B. {9,14,28}
set A is not a subset of {9,66} ⊄
A ⊄ B not subset set B {9,14,28}
A is a superset of B. set {9,14,28} ⊇
A ⊇ B superset A includes set B {9,14,28}
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
proper superset / A is a superset of B, but {9,14,28} ⊃
A ⊃ B strict superset B is not equal to A. {9,14}
set A is not a superset {9,14,28} ⊅
A ⊅ B not superset of set B {9,66}
2A power set all subsets of A
power set all subsets of A
A={3,9,14},
both sets have the
A = B equality same members
B={3,9,14},
A=B
all the objects that do
Ac complement
not belong to set A
A = {3,9,14},
relative objects that belong to A
A\B complement and not to B
B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
relative objects that belong to A
A-B complement and not to B
B = {1,2,3},
A-B = {9,14}
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A
symmetric B = {1,2,3},
A ∆ B difference or B but not to their
intersection A∆B=
{1,2,9,14}
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
A = {3,9,14},
objects that belong to A
A ⊖ symmetric B = {1,2,3},
or B but not to their
B difference A⊖B=
intersection
{1,2,9,14}
A={3,9,14}, 3 ∈
a∈A element of set membership
A
A={3,9,14}, 1
x∉A not element of no set membership
∉A
(a,b) ordered pair collection of 2 elements
set of all ordered pairs
A×B cartesian product
from A and B
the number of elements A={3,9,14}, |
|A| cardinality
of set A A|=3
the number of elements A={3,9,14},
#A cardinality
of set A #A=3
infinite cardinality of
aleph-null
natural numbers set
cardinality of countable
aleph-one
ordinal numbers set
Ø empty set Ø={} C = {Ø}
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
set of all possible
universal set
values
natural numbers /
0 whole numbers set 0 = {0,1,2,3,4,...} 0∈ 0
(with zero)
natural numbers /
1 whole numbers set 1 = {1,2,3,4,5,...} 6∈ 1
(without zero)
= {...-3,-2,-
integer numbers set -6 ∈
1,0,1,2,3,...}
rational numbers = {x | x=a/b, a,b∈
set
2/6 ∈
}
real numbers set = {x | -∞ < x <∞} 6.343434∈
complex numbers = {z | z=a+bi, -
6+2i ∈
set ∞<a<∞, -∞<b<∞}
Logic symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
⋅ and and x⋅y
^ caret / circumflex and x^y
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
& ampersand and x&y
+ plus or x+y
∨ reversed caret or x∨y
| vertical line or x|y
x' single quote not - negation x'
x bar not - negation x
¬ not not - negation ¬x
! exclamation mark not - negation !x
⊕ circled plus / oplus exclusive or - xor x⊕y
~ tilde negation ~x
⇒ implies
⇔ equivalent if and only if (iff)
↔ equivalent if and only if (iff)
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
∀ for all
∃ there exists
∄ there does not exists
∴ therefore
∵ because / since
Calculus & analysis symbols
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
limit limit value of a function
represents a very small
ε epsilon
number, near zero
ε→0
e constant / e = lim
e Euler's number
e = 2.718281828...
(1+1/x)x , x→∞
derivative - Lagrange's
y' derivative
notation
(3x3)' = 9x2
second
y '' derivative
derivative of derivative (3x3)'' = 18x
y(n) nth derivative n times derivation (3x3)(3) = 18
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
derivative - Leibniz's
derivative
notation
d(3x3)/dx = 9x2
second
derivative
derivative of derivative d2(3x3)/dx2 = 18x
nth derivative n times derivation
derivative by time -
time derivative
Newton's notation
time second
derivative of derivative
derivative
derivative - Euler's
Dx y derivative
notation
second
Dx2y derivative
derivative of derivative
partial
derivative
∂(x2+y2)/∂x = 2x
∫ integral opposite to derivation ∫ f(x)dx
integration of function of
∫∫ double integral
2 variables
∫∫ f(x,y)dxdy
integration of function of
∫∫∫ triple integral
3 variables
∫∫∫ f(x,y,z)dxdydz
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
closed contour /
∮ line integral
closed surface
∯ integral
closed volume
∰ integral
[a,b] closed interval [a,b] = {x | a ≤ x ≤ b}
(a,b) open interval (a,b) = {x | a < x < b}
i imaginary unit i ≡ √-1 z = 3 + 2i
complex
z* conjugate
z = a+bi → z*=a-bi z* = 3 - 2i
complex
z conjugate
z = a+bi → z = a-bi z = 3 - 2i
gradient / divergence
∇ nabla / del
operator
∇f (x,y,z)
vector
unit vector
Symbol Symbol Name Meaning / definition Example
x*y convolution y(t) = x(t) * h(t)
Laplace
transform
F(s) = {f (t)}
Fourier
transform
X(ω) = {f (t)}
δ delta function
∞ lemniscate infinity symbol
