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Section sign

In today's article we will explore the fascinating world of Section sign. From its origins to its evolution today, this topic has captured the attention of people of all ages and backgrounds. With a rich and diverse history, Section sign has left an indelible mark on society, influencing entire generations and playing a crucial role in countless aspects of modern life. Through this article, we will seek to delve deeper into the various aspects that make Section sign such a relevant and exciting topic, in the hope of discovering new perspectives and knowledge that enrich our understanding of this phenomenon.

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§
Section sign
In UnicodeU+00A7 § SECTION SIGN (§)
Related
See alsoU+00B6 PILCROW SIGN

The section sign (§) is a typographical symbol for referencing individually numbered sections of a document; it is frequently used when citing sections of a legal code.[1] It is also known as the section symbol, section mark, double-s, or silcrow.[2][3] In other languages it may be called the "paragraph symbol" (for example, German: Paragrafzeichen). The section sign typically appears akin to a letter S stacked on top of another S.[4]

Use

The section sign is often used when referring to a specific section of a legal code. For example, in Bluebook style, "Title 16 of the United States Code Section 580p" becomes "16 U.S.C. § 580p".[5] The section sign is frequently used along with the pilcrow (or paragraph sign), , to reference a specific paragraph within a section of a document. However, some jurisdictions prefer the sign be avoided, and rather that the word "section" be written out in full.[6]

While § is usually read in spoken English as the word "section", many other languages use the word "paragraph" exclusively to refer to a section of a document (especially of legal text), and use other words to describe a paragraph in the English sense. Consequently, in those cases "§" may be read as "paragraph", and may occasionally also be described as a "paragraph sign", but this is a description of its usage, not a formal name.[7][8]

When duplicated, as §§, it is read as the plural "sections". For example, "§§ 13–21" would be read as "sections 13 through 21", much as pp. (pages) is the plural of p., meaning page.

It may also be used with footnotes when asterisk *, dagger †, and double dagger ‡ have already been used on a given page.

It is common practice to follow the section sign with a non-breaking space so that the symbol is kept with the section number being cited.[1][9]: 212, 233 

Unicode

Two common representations of the section sign

The section sign appeared in several early computer text encodings. It was placed at 0xA7 (167) in ISO-8859-1, a position that was inherited by Unicode as code point U+00A7 § SECTION SIGN. Representation of the sign is an artistic decision within the overall design language of the typeface (or computer font): the two more commonly seen forms are shown here.[10] In all cases, the sign is encoded by U+00A7.

Origin

Two possible origins are often posited for the section sign: most probably, that it is a ligature formed by the combination of two S glyphs (from the Latin signum sectiōnis).[11][2][12][13] Some scholars, however, are skeptical of this explanation.[14]

Others have theorized that it is an adaptation of the Ancient Greek παράγραφος (paragraphos),[12] a catch-all term for a class of punctuation marks used by scribes with diverse shapes and intended uses.[15]

The modern form of the sign, with its modern meaning, has been in use since the 15th century.[16]

In literature

In Jaroslav Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk, the § symbol is used repeatedly to mean "bureaucracy". In his English translation of 1930, Paul Selver translated it as "red tape".

See also

  • Scilicet ("it may be known") is sometimes rendered using a § mark instead of "viz."

References

  1. ^ a b Standler, Ronald M. (2004). "Legal Research and Citation Style in USA". Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  2. ^ a b Radoeva, Krista (2017-01-12). "The section sign". Punctuation series. Monotype Imaging. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  3. ^ Butterick, Matthew. "Butterick's Practical Typography: Paragraphs and Section Marks". Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  4. ^ "How to Use a Section Mark or Silcrow | Monotype". www.monotype.com. 2 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Guides: Bluebook Guide: Federal Statutes". Georgetown University Law Library. August 9, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "Symbols :: California Secretary of State". www.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
  7. ^ "The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 – C1 Controls and Latin-1 Supplement" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  8. ^ "Some text-to-speech voices read the section symbol as paragraph instead of section". Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  9. ^ Felici, James (2012). The Complete Manual of Typography (Second ed.). ISBN 978-0-321-77326-5.
  10. ^ "Manual: *@©™®†‡§¶❦☜". type.today.
  11. ^ Webb, Stephen (2018). Clash of Symbols (eBook). Springer International Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 978-3-319-71350-2.
  12. ^ a b Webster, Noah (1886). "Arbitrary signs used in writing and printing". Webster's Complete Dictionary of the English Language (Authorized and Unabridged ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 1784 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Parker, Richard Green (1851). Aids to English Composition, Prepared for Students of All Grades. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 32.
  14. ^ Lewis, Erwin Herbert (1894). The History of the English Paragraph (Thesis). University of Chicago Press. pp. 11, 16–17. OCLC 6077629.
  15. ^ Garulli, Valentina (2018-10-09). "Lectional Signs in Greek Verse Inscriptions". In Petrovic, Andrej; Thomas, Edmund; Petrovic, Ivana (eds.). The Materiality of Text: Placement, Perception, and Presence of Inscribed Texts in Classical Antiquity (eBook). Brill Publishers. p. 106. doi:10.1163/9789004379435_006. ISBN 978-90-04-37943-5. S2CID 198732053.
  16. ^ Lewis, Edwin Herbert (1894). The history of the English paragraph. University of Chicago. p. 16 – via Archive.org.
  • Media related to Section signs at Wikimedia Commons
  • The dictionary definition of Section signs at Wiktionary
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