What ⁽ means
The superscript paren starts a raised group. Nearby raised text shows what is inside; alone, ⁽ is only an opener.
When did raised notation develop?
Superscripting developed gradually. Raised notation is documented in mathematical writing by 1484; modern-style raised exponents appear by 1636. These dates describe superscripting generally, not this parenthesis's first appearance.
Technical, mathematical, and typographic.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ⁽ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ⁽
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 207D, then Alt+X 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 “superscript left parenthesis”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 207d, then Enter or Space.
HTML
⁽CSS
\207DChromeOS
Unicode's CLDR 43 keyboard chart lists ⁽ for ChromeOS layouts; access depends on the selected layout.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
⁽
HTML hex
⁽
CSS content
content: "\207D";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E2%81%BD
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.