Small tilde

It is a standalone spacing tilde, not an accent on a letter.

˜ occupies its own character position. ~ is a different spacing tilde; ◌̃ attaches to the preceding base, and ∼ is a mathematical operator. Similar shapes do not make interchangeable text.

How do I type the standalone tilde?

Use its named HTML reference or numeric code point.

The WHATWG HTML Standard maps ˜ to ˜; ˜ states the code point explicitly. In code or JSON, write \u02DC inside an escaped string, then decode it. The usual tilde key types ~ instead.

Where did the tilde mark come from?

It grew from handwritten abbreviations, not a single designed sign.

In ancient Latin manuscript practice, a short stroke above the line could mark omitted letters. Medieval and early modern manuscripts also show tilde-shaped abbreviation marks. Scribes used them to save writing space and effort; readers worked out the missing letters from context and the scribe’s habits.

In later language traditions, tilde-shaped marks took on sound-related roles. In Spanish ñ, the mark represents a palatal nasal sound, made with the tongue against the roof of the mouth and air through the nose. Portuguese ã and õ mark nasalized vowels, spoken with air through the nose. The International Phonetic Alphabet uses the combining form ◌̃ to mark nasalization. These are related uses of the tilde mark, not spellings of standalone ˜.