Asterisk: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[File:Section break 02 by Pengo.jpg|thumb|Asterisks used to illustrate a [[section break]] in a ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''.]]

An '''asterisk''' ('''*'''; [[Late Latin|Late]] {{lang-lat|asteriscus}}, from {{lang-el|ἀστερίσκος}}, ''asteriskos'', "little star")<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29steri%2Fskos ἀστερίσκος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> is a [[typographical]] symbol or [[glyph]]. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star. [[Computer]] scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as '''star''' (as, for example, in ''the [[A* search algorithm]]'' or ''[[C*-algebra]]''), or, more informally, '''splat'''. In English, an asterisk is usually five-pointed in [[sans-serif]] [[typeface]]s, six-pointed in [[serif]] typefaces{{Citation needed|date=October 2012|reason=I([[User:Teika kazura|Teika kazura]] ([[User talk:Teika kazura|talk]])) don't see relation between # of points and serif-ness for some 20 installed fonts. Even if references are shown, it may not apply to today's norm.}}, and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten. It can be used to censor out swear words or objectionable text.

The asterisk is derived from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth. The original shape was seven-armed,{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} each arm like a teardrop shooting from the center.