Solidus (punctuation)

The solidus ( ⁄ ) is a punctuation mark used to indicate fractions including fractional currency. It may also be called a shilling mark, an in-line fraction bar, or a fraction slash. Its Unicode encoding is U+2044.

The solidus is similar to another punctuation mark, the slash, which is found on standard keyboards; the slash is closer to being vertical than the solidus. These are two distinct symbols that traditionally have entirely different uses. However, many people no longer distinguish between them, and when there is no alternative it is acceptable to use the slash in place of the solidus.

Both the ISO and Unicode designate the solidus as U+2044 ⁄ FRACTION SLASH (&frasl;)^[1] and the slash as U+002F / SOLIDUS (/).^[2] This contradicts long-established English typesetting terminology.^[3]

History

The names solidus and shilling mark have the same background. In the British Commonwealth, before decimalisation, currency sums in pounds, shillings, and pence were abbreviated using the '£' symbol, the 's.' symbol, and the 'd.' symbol (collectively £sd) referring to the libra, the solidus, and the denarius. The 's.' was at one stage written using a long s, ∫ that was further abbreviated to the ⁄ symbol, and suppression of the 'd.'; thus '2 pounds, 10 shillings, and 6 pence', often written as £2 ⁄ 10 ⁄ 6 (as an alternative to '£2 10s. 6d.'), and '10 shillings' would often be written as 10 ⁄ -. This usage caused the names solidus (given the abbreviation's historical root) and shilling mark to be used as names for this character.^{[citation needed]}

Usage

Currency

The shilling mark is used to denote shillings, see the History section above.

Mathematics

The solidus is used in the display of ratios and fractions as in constructing a fraction using superscript and subscript as in ¹²³⁄₄₅₆, or on the same level as in 23⁄50.

The solidus is found in many legacy Apple Macintosh character sets. It can be typed on a Macintosh computer (with US keyboard layout) by pressing Option+Shift+1. Systems capable of fine typography display this result as a true fraction with small numbers.

Unicode also distinguishes U+2215 ∕ DIVISION SLASH which may be more oblique than the normal solidus character.

The solidus can be typed on Microsoft Windows as Alt-8260 and the division slash as Alt-8725.

References

^ Unicode, Inc. (2010). General Punctuation. Unicode General Punctuation code chart, p. 185. Retrieved from http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2000.pdf.
^ Unicode, Inc. (2010). C0 Controls and Basic Latin. Unicode ASCII Punctuation code chart, p. 4. Retrieved from http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf.
^ Bringhurst, Robert (2002). The Elements of Typographic Style. Publisher: Hartley & Marks Publishers; 2nd edition (2002). ISBN-13: 978-0881791327.

Bibliography

Klein, Samuel John (2006-03-03). Typography Words of the Day: Slashes. Designorati, 3 March 2006. Retrieved from http://designorati.com/articles/t1/typography/693/typography-words-of-the-day-slashes.php.

External links

[1] Unicode, Inc. (2010). General Punctuation. Unicode General Punctuation code chart, p. 185. Retrieved from http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2000.pdf.

[2] Unicode, Inc. (2010). C0 Controls and Basic Latin. Unicode ASCII Punctuation code chart, p. 4. Retrieved from http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf.

[bringhurst-3] Bringhurst, Robert (2002). The Elements of Typographic Style. Publisher: Hartley & Marks Publishers; 2nd edition (2002). ISBN-13: 978-0881791327.

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