Dagger (mark)

Typographical symbol (†) † ‡ ⸸ ⹋oDaggerIn UnicodeU+2020 † DAGGER (†)U+2021 ‡ DOUBLE DAGGER (‡, ‡)U+2E38 ⸸ TURNED DAGGERU+2E4B ⹋ TRIPLE DAGGERDifferent fromDifferent fromU+271D ✝ LATIN CROSSU+2628 ☨ CROSS OF LORRAINE A dagger, obelisk, or obelus † is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the modern descendants of the obelus, a mark used historically by scholars as a critical or highlighting indicator in manuscripts. In older texts, it is called an obelisk. A double dagger, or diesis, ‡ is a variant with two hilts and crossguards that usually marks a third footnote after the asterisk and dagger. The triple dagger ⹋ is a variant with three crossguards and is used by medievalists to indicate another level of notation. History Three variants of obelus glyphs The dagger symbol originated from a variant of the obelus, originally depicted by a plain line − or a line with one or two dots ÷. It represented an iron roasting spit, a dart, or the sharp end of a javelin, symbolizing