Asterisk Symbol * — Meaning, History & All Uses

The asterisk * is one of the most versatile symbols in writing, math, and computing. It marks footnotes, represents multiplication, censors profanity, denotes importance, and serves as a wildcard. Here's the complete guide to the asterisk.

What Is the Asterisk?

The asterisk is the symbol * — a small star-shaped mark used as a reference, wildcard, emphasis indicator, or operator. The name comes from the Greek asteriskos, meaning "little star." It's one of the oldest punctuation marks in continuous use, appearing in texts from ancient Greece and Rome.

History of the Asterisk

The asterisk has one of the longest histories of any punctuation mark:

• Ancient times: Used by Greek grammarians Aristarchus and Zenodotus to mark questionable or spurious lines in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (3rd century BCE)
• Early medieval period: Scribes used the asterisk to mark corrections, omissions, or cross-references in manuscripts
• Printing era (15th century+): Became a standard typographic footnote marker
• Computing era (20th century): Adopted as multiplication operator and wildcard character
• Internet age: Used for emphasis in text messaging and to censor profanity

How to Type the Asterisk

Asterisk Uses in Writing

1. Footnote Marker

The most traditional use: placing * at a point in text to indicate a footnote or endnote at the bottom of the page. When a document has multiple footnotes, asterisks are stacked: *, **, *** — or alternated with daggers: *, †, ‡.

2. Indicating Omission

Three asterisks *** or a centered asterism ⁂ indicate that text has been omitted from a passage — a scene break in fiction, a content jump in a transcript, or a redacted section.

3. Correcting Yourself

In text messaging and online chat, an asterisk corrects a previous typo. If you write "I'm going their" and then realize your error, you'd follow up with "*there" — the asterisk signals "I meant to write this instead."

4. Marking Required Fields

On forms and in instructions, * next to a label means "required field" or "see additional note." You see this constantly on web forms, applications, and legal documents.

5. Censoring Profanity

Asterisks replace letters in profanity to indicate the word without spelling it out: s**t, f***, d*mn. This convention is recognized globally in print, broadcast, and online content.

Asterisk in Mathematics

In mathematics, the asterisk has several specific roles:

• Multiplication: 5 * 3 = 15 (used in computing; proper math uses ×)
• Convolution: f * g in signal processing and mathematics
• Complex conjugate: z* denotes the complex conjugate of z
• Dual space: V* denotes the dual space of vector space V
• Kleene star: In formal language theory, L* means zero or more repetitions of L

Asterisk in Programming

The asterisk is indispensable in programming:

• Multiplication: All major languages use * for multiply (5 * 3)
• Exponentiation: Python uses ** for powers (2**8 = 256)
• Pointer declaration: In C/C++, int* declares a pointer to integer
• Wildcard: *.txt matches all files ending in .txt
• Import all: from module import * imports everything
• Unpacking: Python uses *args for variable-length arguments
• Markdown/Formatting: *text* is italic, **text** is bold in Markdown
• SQL: SELECT * FROM table — the * means "all columns"
• Regex: .* matches any character, any number of times

Asterisk in Text Messaging for Emphasis

Online and in text messages, wrapping *text* in asterisks makes it bold or emphasized in many platforms. On platforms without markdown support, it's used conventionally to indicate stress:

• "That was *amazing*" — the asterisks emphasize "amazing"
• "I *really* don't want to go" — stress on "really"
• "*sigh*" — used to indicate an action or physical cue

Asterisk Variations to Copy Paste

There are many Unicode asterisk-type characters beyond the basic *:

The Asterism ⁂

The asterism ⁂ (three asterisks in a triangle) is a typographic symbol used to indicate a major section break or scene transition in writing. It's also used in astronomy to refer to a cluster of three stars. The name comes from the Greek asterismos (a marking with stars).

Fun Facts About the Asterisk

• The asterisk is over 2,300 years old — older than most punctuation marks
• In classical scholarship, the asterisk still marks a reconstructed word that isn't attested in writing (e.g., Proto-Germanic *wulfaz for "wolf")
• The asterisk on your phone's keypad (*) is called the "star key" in telephony
• Asterisks are used in linguistic papers to mark ungrammatical or impossible sentences: *"He goed to the store"
• In sports, an asterisk next to a record suggests it came under disputed circumstances — "an asterisked record"

Asterisk in Pop Culture

"With an asterisk" has become a common English phrase meaning "with a caveat" or "with reservations." When someone says "he's the champion, but with an asterisk," they mean there's something that complicates or diminishes the achievement.

This usage comes from sports journalism, where asterisks in record books indicated controversies — most famously in baseball discussions about steroid-era records.