What 𞺋 means
It is the Arabic letter lam in a dedicated mathematical style. Arabic math letters can label quantities or signs; the formula gives 𞺋 its role.
Arabic algebraic shorthand was in use in the Maghreb—North Africa west of Egypt—by the end of the twelfth century. Textbooks showed compact calculations to work on a dust board, a flat surface that could be smoothed and reused; algebra also continued to be explained in words.
In medieval Maghrebi algebra, lam could mark equality, from the final letter of taʿdil (“equating”). That is one convention; the looped character names a mathematical style, not a fixed operation.
How do I type the looped Arabic math lam?
Use a Unicode-aware editor's character search or insertion tool. Plain Arabic ل will not turn into 𞺋 through ordinary font shaping.
Arabic mathematical notation preserves several letter styles, including looped, stretched, and double-struck forms, because style can carry meaning. These mathematical symbols do not join contextually like ordinary Arabic letters. Arabic- and Persian-script mathematics also has regional conventions for formula layout and signs.
Technical notation for Arabic-script mathematics.
Lam does not always mean equality; read its role from the formula.
Part of collections
Who writes 𞺋
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Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
1
Questions people ask
1Why does 𞺋 show as a box on some devices?
Not every system ships a font for the Arabic Mathematical Alphabetic Symbols block. Where none is installed, the character shows as an empty box; adding a font such as Noto fixes it. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.
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How to type or find 𞺋
- Search it as
- looped lam · arabic math lam · arabic math letters · arabic mathematical symbols
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𞺋\1EE8BCodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.