Minus Sign

Part of Math Symbols

Minus Sign has no standard Windows Alt code. Copy the character directly, or use its HTML entity or Unicode value instead.

Alt code
None
HTML entity
−
Unicode
U+2212

About this symbol

The true minus sign is a separate character from the hyphen on the keyboard: it is longer, and it sits at the height of the bar in a plus sign, so 5 − 3 lines up neatly. It first appeared in print with the plus sign in Johannes Widmann’s arithmetic book of 1489.

Unicode facts

Official name
MINUS SIGN
Type
Maths symbol
Unicode block
Mathematical Operators
Unicode group
Operators
Added in
Unicode 1.1 (1993)
Related
- Hyphen-Minus U+002D
➖ Heavy Minus Sign U+2796

Click the symbol or any value at the top of the page to copy it. See the full Math Symbols chart for related characters.

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