Latin Capital O with Stroke Ø

The Latin Capital O with Stroke character (Ø) is a standard HTML entity defined in the HTML specification. In HTML source code, it can be written using the named entity reference Ø, the decimal numeric character reference Ø, or the hexadecimal numeric reference Ø. The character is assigned Unicode code point U+00D8 in the Universal Character Set.

The capital O with stroke (Ø) is a separate letter in Danish and Norwegian, positioned at the end of the alphabet. It represents a front rounded vowel sound similar to German Ö. The character is visually similar to the empty set symbol (∅) but they are semantically different characters.

Latin extended character entities provide the accented and modified letters required by dozens of European languages. From French accents aigus and graves to German umlauts, Scandinavian rings, and Icelandic thorns, these entities ensure correct rendering of non-ASCII characters within HTML documents. While modern UTF-8 encoded pages can include these characters directly in source code, HTML entities remain valuable for source code clarity and legacy compatibility.

When deciding how to encode the Latin Capital O with Stroke character in your HTML documents, the named entity Ø is generally the most readable choice for developers reviewing or maintaining source code. The decimal form Ø and hexadecimal form Ø 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 this entity in Danish and Norwegian text where Ø is a distinct letter. Do not confuse it with the mathematical empty set symbol (∅). In Scandinavian languages, Ø is not interchangeable with O or Ö — it is its own letter with its own position in the alphabet.