Middle Dot ·

The Middle Dot character (·) is a standard HTML entity defined in the HTML specification. In HTML source code, it can be written using the named entity reference ·, the decimal numeric character reference ·, or the hexadecimal numeric reference ·. The character is assigned Unicode code point U+00B7 in the Universal Character Set.

The middle dot (·) is a versatile punctuation mark centered vertically. It serves as a multiplication operator in some European countries, a separator in Catalan (ela geminada), an interpunct in ancient Latin and modern typography, and an inline separator in web navigation and metadata displays.

Symbol entities encompass a wide variety of special characters used in legal disclaimers, intellectual property notices, typographic ornaments, card suit indicators, and miscellaneous notation throughout web content. These characters appear in website footers for copyright notices, product pages for trademark symbols, academic papers for dagger footnote markers, and decorative or gaming contexts for card suits and stars.

When deciding how to encode the Middle Dot character in your HTML documents, the named entity · is generally the most readable choice for developers reviewing or maintaining source code. The decimal form · and hexadecimal form · are equally valid alternatives that work in contexts where named entities may not be supported, or when generating HTML output programmatically from server-side code. All three representations produce identical visual output in every modern web browser.

Use the middle dot as a lightweight inline separator between navigation items or metadata (Home · About · Contact), as a multiplication dot in some mathematical traditions, and in Catalan text for the ela geminada (l·l). It provides a more subtle separation than the bullet (•).