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⋦

less-than but not equivalent to

Less than but not equivalent to

⋦ means “less than, but not equivalent to.” Between two mathematical expressions, it says the left side is smaller while ruling out equivalence or similarity. It combines a less-than sign with a crossed-out wavy mark; it is not simply another way to write “less than or equal to.”

Text symbol

What ⋦ means

Read it as “less than, but not equivalent to.” In a ⋦ b, the less-than part compares a with b, while the crossed-out wavy part excludes equivalence or similarity.

Equivalence means that two things count as the same under a specified mathematical rule; they need not be identical. The surrounding text defines that rule. For an ordinary numerical comparison with no such extra condition, use <.

Part of collections

Don't confuse it with

≲

Less-Than Or Equivalent To

Less than or equivalent to: its wavy part is not crossed out. ⋦ excludes that alternative.

≤

Less-Than Or Equal To

Less than or equal to. Its lower straight line allows equality; ⋦ does not mean this.

Worth knowing

The simpler signs < and > appeared in a 1631 work by Thomas Harriot, published after his death. That history belongs to those signs, not to the combined symbol ⋦.

How to type or find ⋦

Search it as: ⋦ meaning · less than not similar · lnsim · lnsim symbol
Shows up in: Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws

Windows (Word)

⎇Alt+XType 22E6, then AltX to get ⋦.

Windows

⊞Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win .).

macOS

⌃Control+⌘Command+␣SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “less-than but not equivalent to”.

Linux

⎈Ctrl+⇧Shift+UType 22e6, then Enter or Space.

HTML

⋦

CSS

\22E6

Microsoft Word

Type 22E6, then press AltX to convert it to ⋦.

Codes and encoding1 code points

HTML decimal

⋦

HTML hex

⋦

CSS content

content: "\22E6";

Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.

URL encoded

%E2%8B%A6

On screen

Code points

JS .length

UTF-8 bytes

A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.

Families this belongs to

Maths & numbers1,835 symbols

1️⃣📏📐✖️➕➖➗🟰♾️#️⃣*️⃣0️⃣