What ▵ means
The key or caption tells you what it marks. ▵ is a small outline triangle pointing up. A writer may use it for a point, category, or step in a formula or diagram.
Fonts control its proportions, so the outline may look slightly wider or narrower.
Neutral and schematic; in a casual message, nearby words explain what the marker labels.
Don't confuse it with
2Questions 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 25B5, 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 “white up-pointing small triangle”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 25b5, then Enter or Space.
HTML
▵CSS
\25B5Linux text entry
To type ▵ in many Linux text fields, press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 25b5, then press Enter.
Source code
Use \u25B5 in languages that accept Unicode escapes.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
▵
HTML hex
▵
CSS content
content: "\25B5";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E2%96%B5
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.