What ﹥ means
Use ﹥ or ﹥ in HTML.
These are HTML numeric character references: the first gives the character value in hexadecimal, the second in decimal. An ordinary > keystroke produces the ordinary sign, not this small-form character.
Is ﹥ the same as >?
Same inequality, different encoded character. In a comparison, both signs say the value on the left is greater than the value on the right. Unicode treats ﹥ as a small-form compatibility variant of >.
Its compact appearance suits East Asian text layouts that reserve a fullwidth cell—about the width of an ideograph—for each character. The form preserves older character-set data, including CNS 11643 and Big5, in those layouts.
The earliest documented printed appearance of ordinary > is in 1631, in Artis Analyticae Praxis, a mathematical book published after Thomas Harriot's death. Historians dispute who established the printed notation. For new mathematical text, use >; retain ﹥ when legacy data or fixed-cell layout requires it.
Neutral and technical; it keeps a greater-than reading while preserving a small-form East Asian layout.
Its smaller shape does not change which side is greater.
Part of the collection
Don't confuse it with
5
Combination ideas
3Questions people ask
1Why did ﹥ turn into >?
Compatibility normalization can do that. NFKC or NFKD may replace this small-form character with ordinary >, removing the encoded distinction.
More like this
13
How to type or find ﹥
- Search it as
- ﹥ · FE65 · gt · HTML 65125 · CNS 11643 · Big5
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
﹥\FE65﹥ or ﹥.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.