What the heck is an HTML entity? They have names? That’s what I thought the first time I heard that term. I was publishing an article with Jekyll . I noticed that Jekyll does not like to have < and > characters in the article front matter. Post titles in partciular. Interestingly, HTML> works just fine. But <HTML, or the real offender, <HTML> seem to end up getting ignored. Jekyll will still generate the site. It just doesn’t include the offending string. So I did a little research and found a nifty workaround to this problem.
Meet HTML entities
Using a predefined string of characters it is possible to represent symbols like <, >, µ, and §, in places where it would otherwise be difficult. < and > represent open and close tag symbols without being rendered as HTML and without needing to appear in a code block. µ (µ) and § (§) make it possible to print symbols that might otherwise be difficult to produce with a regular keyboard.
See also: Complete list of HTML tags up to date for HTML5
This looks rather awkward at first. But there’s a method to the madness! HTML entity numbers begin with &# (ampersand pound) and end with ; (semicolon).
So far we’ve referenced HTML entities by number. But many of them have names, too.
The beginning and end tags are the same when using names. The only difference is the lack of the number sign and of course a name is used instead of a number. Names are great because they can be easier to remember than numbers. For example, < (<) stands for “less than” and > (>) stands for “greater than.” I think that’s a great deal easier to remember than < and >.
Where can I use HTML entities?
HTML entities are pretty versatile. They can be separated by white space, placed back to back, inside parenthesis, back to back with another string of code. As long as there isn’t a mix up involving & and ; characters, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Punctuation, programming, and other common symbols
While all of the common symbols listed here have entity numbers, some of them do not have names. Remember to include a # when referencing an HTML entity by number and exclude it when using the name.
Description
Number
Name
Symbol
Open tag
<<<
Close tag
>>>
Double quote
""”
Apostrophe / single quote
''’
Colon
:
:
Semicolon
;
;
Grave accent
`
`
Forward slash
/
/
Backslash
\
\
Exclamation mark
!
!
Question mark
?
?
Octothorp / hashtag / pound
#
#
Asterisk (star)
*
*
Percentage
%
%
Ampersand
&&&
Open parenthesis
(
(
Close parenthesis
)
)
Hyphen / dash / minus
-
-
Comma
,
,
Period
.
.
At sign
@
@
Caret symbol
^
^
Open square bracket
[
[
Close square bracket
]
]
Open curly bracket
{
{
Close curly bracket
}
}
Tilde
~
~
Underscore
_
_
Space
 
Space (non-breaking)
 
Vertical bar
|
|
Broken bar
¦¦¦
Upside down exclamation mark
¡¡¡
Upside down question mark
¿¿¿
Section symbol
§§§
Umlaut
¨¨¨
Feminine ordinal indicator
ªªª
Masculine ordinal indicator
ººº
Open double angles
«««
Close double angles
»»»
Not sign
¬¬¬
Soft hyphen
­­
Overline
¯¯¯
Acute accent
´´´
Pilcrow (paragraph)
¶¶¶
Georgian comma
···
Cedilla
¸¸¸
Math symbols
description
number
name
symbol
Plus sign (addition)
+
+
Minus sign (subtraction)
−−−
Multiplication sign
×××
Division sign
÷÷÷
Plus / minus
±±±
Equals sign
=
=
Less or equal
≤≤≤
Greater or equal
≥≥≥
Superscript 1
¹¹¹
Superscript 2
²²²
Superscript 3
³³³
1/4
¼¼¼
1/2
½½½
3/4
¾¾¾
For all
∀∀∀
Part
∂∂∂
Exist
∃∃∃
Empty
∅∅∅
Nabla
∇∇∇
Is in
∈∈∈
Not in
∉∉∉
Ni
∋∋∋
Product
∏∏∏
Sum
∑∑∑
Asterisk (Lowast)
∗∗∗
Square root
√√√
Proportional to
∝∝∝
Infinity
∞∞∞
Angle
∠∠∠
And
∧∧∧
Or
∨∨∨
Cap
∩∩∩
Cup
∪∪∪
Integral
∫∫∫
Therefore
∴∴∴
Similar to
∼∼∼
Congurent to
≅≅≅
Almost equal
≈≈≈
Not equal
≠≠≠
Equivalent
≡≡≡
Subset of
⊂⊂⊂
Superset of
⊃⊃⊃
Not subset of
⊄⊄⊄
Subset or equal
⊆⊆⊆
Superset or equal
⊇⊇⊇
Circled plus
⊕⊕⊕
Circled times
⊗⊗⊗
Unit of measure symbols
description
number
name
symbol
Degrees
°°°
Micro
µµµ
Copyright, registered, trademark
description
number
name
symbol
Copyright
©©©
Registered trademark
®®®
Trademark
™™™
Currency symbols
description
number
name
symbol
Currency sign
¤¤¤
Dollar sign
$
$
Cents
¢¢¢
British pounds
£££
Euro
€€€
Yen
¥¥¥
Greek alphabet
description
number
name
symbol
UPPERCASE ALPHA
ΑΑΑ
lowercase alpha
ααα
UPPERCASE BETA
ΒΒΒ
lowercase beta
βββ
UPPERCASE GAMMA
ΓΓΓ
lowercase gamma
γγγ
UPPERCASE DELTA
ΔΔΔ
lowercase delta
δδδ
UPPERCASE EPSILON
ΕΕΕ
lowercase epsilon
εεε
UPPERCASE ZETA
ΖΖΖ
lowercase zeta
ζζζ
UPPERCASE ETA
ΗΗΗ
lowercase eta
ηηη
UPPERCASE THETA
ΘΘΘ
lowercase theta
θθθ
alternate lowercase theta
ϑϑϑ
UPPERCASE IOTA
ΙΙΙ
lowercase iota
ιιι
UPPERCASE KAPPA
ΚΚΚ
lowercase kappa
κκκ
UPPERCASE LAMBDA
ΛΛΛ
lowercase lambda
λλλ
UPPERCASE MU
ΜΜΜ
lowercase mu
μμμ
UPPERCASE NU
ΝΝΝ
lowercase nu
ννν
UPPERCASE XI
ΞΞΞ
lowercase xi
ξξξ
UPPERCASE OMICRON
ΟΟΟ
lowercase omicron
οοο
UPPERCASE PI
ΠΠΠ
lowercase pi
πππ
alternative lowercase pi
ϖϖϖ
UPPERCASE RHO
ΡΡΡ
lowercase rho
ρρρ
UPPERCASE SIGMA
ΣΣΣ
lowercase sigma
σσσ
final form lowercase sigma
ςςς
UPPERCASE TAU
ΤΤΤ
lowercase tau
τττ
UPPERCASE UPSILON
ΥΥΥ
lowercase upsilon
υυυ
alternative lowercase upsilon
ϒϒϒ
UPPERCASE PHI
ΦΦΦ
lowercase phi
φφφ
UPPERCASE CHI
ΧΧΧ
lowercase chi
χχχ
UPPERCASE PSI
ΨΨΨ
lowercase psi
ψψψ
UPPERCASE OMEGA
ΩΩΩ
lowercase omega
ωωω
Arrows
description
number
name
symbol
Left arrow
←←←
Up arrow
↑↑↑
Right arrow
→→→
Down arrow
↓↓↓
Left & right arrow
↔↔↔
Carriage return arrow
↵↵↵
Spade, club, heart, diamond
description
number
name
symbol
Spade
♠♠♠
Club
♣♣♣
Heart
♥♥♥
Diamond
♦♦♦
Accented letters
description
number
name
symbol
CAPITAL A GRAVE ACCENT
ÀÀÀ
lowercase a grave accent
ààà
CAPITAL A ACUTE ACCENT
ÁÁÁ
lowercase a acute accent
ááá
CAPITAL A CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
ÂÂÂ
lowercase a circumflex accent
âââ
CAPITAL A TILDE ACCENT
ÃÃÃ
lowercase a tilde accent
ããã
CAPITAL A UMLAUT ACCENT
ÄÄÄ
lowercase a umlaut accent
äää
CAPITAL A RING ABOVE ACCENT
ÅÅÅ
lowercase a ring accent
ååå
CAPITAL AE
ÆÆÆ
lowercase ae
æææ
CAPITAL C CEDILLA ACCENT
ÇÇÇ
lowercase c cedilla accent
ççç
CAPITAL E GRAVE ACCENT
ÈÈÈ
lowercase e grave accent
èèè
CAPITAL E ACUTE ACCENT
ÉÉÉ
lowercase e acute accent
ééé
CAPITAL E CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
ÊÊÊ
lowercase e circumflex accent
êêê
lowercase e circumflex accent
êêê
CAPITAL E UMLAUT ACCENT
ËËË
lowercase e umlaut accent
ëëë
CAPITAL I GRAVE ACCENT
ÌÌÌ
lowercase i grave accent
ììì
CAPITAL I ACUTE ACCENT
ÍÍÍ
lowercase i acute accent
ííí
CAPITAL I CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
ÎÎÎ
lowercase i circumflex accent
îîî
CAPITAL I UMLAUT ACCENT
ÏÏÏ
lowercase i umlaut accent
ïïï
CAPITAL ICELANDIC ETH
ÐÐÐ
lowercase Icelandic eth
ððð
CAPITAL N TILDE ACCENT
ÑÑÑ
lowercase n tilde accent
ñññ
CAPITAL O GRAVE ACCENT
ÒÒÒ
lowercase o grave accent
òòò
CAPITAL O ACUTE ACCENT
ÓÓÓ
lowercase o acute accent
óóó
CAPITAL O CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
ÔÔÔ
lowercase o circumflex accent
ôôô
CAPITAL O TILDE ACCENT
ÕÕÕ
lowercase o tilde accent
õõõ
CAPITAL O UMLAUT ACCENT
ÖÖÖ
lowercase o umlaut accent
ööö
CAPITAL O SLASH ACCENT
ØØØ
lowercase o slash
øøø
CAPITAL U GRAVE ACCENT
ÙÙÙ
lowercase u grave accent
ùùù
CAPITAL U ACUTE ACCENT
ÚÚÚ
lowercase u acute accent
úúú
CAPITAL U CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
ÛÛÛ
lowercase u circumflex accent
ûûû
CAPITAL U UMLAUT
ÜÜÜ
lowercase u umlaut accent
üüü
CAPITAL Y ACUTE ACCENT
ÝÝÝ
lowercase y acute accent
ýýý
lowercase y umlaut accent
ÿÿÿ
CAPITAL ICELANDIC THORN
ÞÞÞ
lowercase Icelandic thorn
þþþ
lowercase German sharp s
ßßß
Alphanumeric characters
description
number
name
symbol
Number 0
0
0
Number 1
1
1
Number 2
2
2
Number 3
3
3
Number 4
4
4
Number 5
5
5
Number 6
6
6
Number 7
7
7
Number 8
8
8
Number 9
9
9
UPPERCASE A
A
A
lowercase a
a
a
UPPERCASE B
B
B
lowercase b
b
b
UPPERCASE C
C
C
lowercase c
c
c
UPPERCASE D
D
D
lowercase d
d
d
UPPERCASE E
E
E
lowercase e
e
e
UPPERCASE F
F
F
lowercase f
f
f
UPPERCASE G
G
G
lowercase g
g
g
UPPERCASE H
H
H
lowercase h
h
h
UPPERCASE I
I
I
lowercase i
i
i
UPPERCASE J
J
J
lowercase j
j
j
UPPERCASE K
K
K
lowercase k
k
UPPERCASE L
L
L
lowercase l
l
l
UPPERCASE M
M
M
lowercase m
m
m
UPPERCASE N
N
N
lowercase n
n
n
UPPERCASE O
O
O
lowercase o
o
o
UPPERCASE P
P
P
lowercase p
p
p
UPPERCASE Q
Q
Q
lowercase q
q
q
UPPERCASE R
R
R
lowercase r
r
r
UPPERCASE S
S
S
lowercase s
s
s
UPPERCASE T
T
T
lowercase t
t
t
UPPERCASE U
U
U
lowercase u
u
u
UPPERCASE V
V
V
lowercase v
v
v
UPPERCASE W
W
W
lowercase w
w
w
UPPERCASE X
X
X
lowercase x
x
x
UPPERCASE Y
Y
Y
lowercase y
y
y
UPPERCASE Z
Z
Z
lowercase z
z
z
Miscellaneous
description
number
name
symbol
Bullet
•••
Horizontal ellipsis
………
lowercase Latin f with hook
ƒƒƒ
Perpendicular
⊥⊥⊥
Dot operator
⋅⋅⋅
UPPERCASE LATIN OE LIGATURE
ŒŒŒ
lowercase Latin oe ligature
œœœ
UPPERCASE S WITH CARON
ŠŠŠ
lowercase s with caron
ššš
CAPITAL Y WITH DIAERES
ŸŸŸ
Circumflex accent
ˆˆˆ
Tilde (different from the tilde my keyboard generates)
˜˜˜
En dash
–––
Em dash
———
Left single quotation mark
‘‘‘
Right single quotation mark
’’’
Single low-9 quotation mark
‚‚‚
Left double quotation mark
“““
Right double quotation mark
”””
Double low-9 quotation mark
„„„
Dagger
†††
Double dagger
‡‡‡
Per mille
‰‰‰
Minutes (Degrees)
′′′
Seconds (Degrees)
″″″
Single left angle quotation
‹‹‹
Single right angle quotation
‹›‹
Overline
‾‾‾
Left ceiling
⌈⌈⌈
Right ceiling
⌉⌉⌉
Left floor
⌊⌊⌊
Right floor
⌋⌋⌋
Lozenge
◊◊◊
En space
  
Em space
  
Thin space
  
Zero width non-joiner
‌‌
Zero width joiner
‍‍
Left-to-right mark
‎‎
Right-to-left mark
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