What 𝛐 means
It is a mathematical Greek omicron, not a fixed quantity.
Bold mathematical letters keep variable types distinct; in physics and engineering notation, bold can mark a vector. The formula’s definitions tell you what this omicron names. Its plain Greek base form is ο.
Where did the omicron and its bold style come from?
The Greek letter descends from Phoenician 𐤏 (ayin), a consonant sign that Greek writers repurposed for the vowel o. The earliest securely dated Greek alphabetic inscriptions date to the eighth century BCE. Greek later added omega for long o; “omicron” means “small o,” contrasted with omega, “big o.”
The mathematical bold style is a separate, much later layer. E. B. Wilson’s 1901 vector-analysis textbook helped spread Clarendon bold for vectors and ordinary type for scalars; mathematical alphanumeric characters carry such distinctions as individual characters in plain text.
Mathematical and technical; outside a formula, bold style alone does not name a fixed quantity.
Bold can mark a vector in one convention, but the formula must identify which quantity.
Part of the collection
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
3
Questions people ask
2Why does 𝛐 show as missing or look different?
It depends on the font. The selected font may lack this mathematical Greek glyph; if the needed math font is unavailable, the character can be missing or use a different shape. Choose a font with mathematical Greek support.
Can text cleanup turn 𝛐 into plain omicron?
Yes. NFKC is a compatibility-normalization step that folds mathematical styled letters to their plain Greek or Latin bases, so the bold distinction can disappear.
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How to type or find 𝛐
- Search it as
- vector · typing · math font · math variant · alt code
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𝛐\1D6D0Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.