![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
obelus (OB-uh-luhs) - n., the typographical symbol ÷ (division sign); the typographical symbol † (dagger).
The former more correctly -- originally used to mark suspect passages in manuscripts, but now almost strictly for division (though it's still sometimes used for a number range in some languages). The latter is now mostly used for an alternate footnote marker, but there's a host of other specialized usages. Both derive from the same source, and comes from the Greek for a spit, or other sharpened stick.
---L.
The former more correctly -- originally used to mark suspect passages in manuscripts, but now almost strictly for division (though it's still sometimes used for a number range in some languages). The latter is now mostly used for an alternate footnote marker, but there's a host of other specialized usages. Both derive from the same source, and comes from the Greek for a spit, or other sharpened stick.
---L.
