What's the meaning of the Pilcrow »

Pilcrow

This page is about the meaning, origin and characteristic of the symbol, emblem, seal, sign, logo or flag: Pilcrow.

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The pilcrow, also called the paragraph mark, paragraph sign, paraph, alinea (Latin: a lineā, "off the line"), or blind P, is a typographical character for individual paragraphs.

The pilcrow can be used as an indent for separate paragraphs or to designate a new paragraph in one long piece of copy, as Eric Gill did in his 1930s book, An Essay on Typography. The pilcrow was used in the Middle Ages to mark a new train of thought, before the convention of physically discrete paragraphs was commonplace.

The pilcrow is usually drawn similar to a lowercase q reaching from descender to ascender height; the loop can be filled or unfilled. It may also be drawn with the bowl stretching further downwards, resembling a backwards D; this is more often seen in older printing.

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Graphical characteristics:
Asymmetric, Closed shape, Colorful, Contains both straight and curved lines, Has no crossing lines.

Category: Language Symbols.

Pilcrow is part of the Proofreading Marks, Punctuation groups.

More symbols in Proofreading Marks:

Proofreading is the reading of a galley proof or computer monitor to detect and correct production-errors of text or art. Proofreaders are expected to be consistently accurate by default because they… read more »

Caret

Dele

Pilcrow

More symbols in Punctuation:

Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud. In written English, punctuation is… read more »