See also: / / for the use of / to enclose other characters.

Translingual

Punctuation mark

/

1. A mark noting a line or paragraph break in quotation of poems, scripts, &c. in a single-line format.

   Never gonna give you up / Never gonna let you down

2. (numismatics, sometimes proscribed) A mark separating base currency units from their subdivisions or (followed by a hyphen or dash) marking an even sum.

   £10/– is ten quid even.

3. (poker) Separates the small blind from the big blind.

   Which game do you want to play? The $1/$2 or the $2/$5?

4. A mark used in place of the hyphen or dash in several contexts.
   1. (usually informal) Used to separate components of a date.

      9/11 is September 11th to most Americans but the 9th of November in the British Isles.

   2. Used to mark a time shared by two dates, as nights between two days or winters between two years.

      Santa Claus is said to visit all the world's children on the night of December 24/25.

   3. (ISO standard) Used to mark normal date ranges.

      We coded that over the fall term of our senior year, 2010-09-01/12-22.

   4. Used to separate a particular amount (as a score) or location (as a page) from the total number of possible points or similar items.

      I got an 85/100 on the midterm.

   5. (politics) Used to separate percentages for and against or approving and disapproving (always in that order) in poll results.

      Her approval numbers stand at 42/23, meaning she presently has a net favorability of +19 but a large number of voters remain undecided.

5. A mark used in forming some abbreviations.
   1. Used to form abbreviations of units derived through division.

      Our rent is $600/mo.

      The formal abbreviation for kilometers per hour is km/h.

      The exchange rate of euros in terms of dollars is expressed EUR/USD.

   2. Used to form numerous initialisms and contractions, particularly of two-word phrases.

      Common examples of the abbreviating slash include w/ (with), w/o (without), b/c (because), and 24/7 (24 hours/day, 7 days/week).

   3. Used in some contexts to mark hierarchies in abbreviation.

      The American Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation is formally abbreviated FAA/AST.

6. (informal, text messaging) A mark showing the following text is to be understood as an action or programming command performed by the writer, in the manner of an online chat command.

   /fliptable

7. (informal, text messaging) A mark followed by commentary clarifying the intended meaning of the preceding text, in the manner of a closing tag.

   I support him completely /s

8. (computing) Separates keys or commands that can be typed, usually in a command prompt.

   QUIT? Y/N

9. (proofreading) A mark noting the end of a margin note or separating two such notes.
10. (obsolete) A medieval and early modern form of the comma ⟨,⟩.
11. (obsolete) A medieval form of the period ⟨.⟩.
12. See / / for uses of the / to enclose other characters, as in /pɹənʌntsiˈeɪʃəns/.

Synonyms

• (many senses): -, –
• (line breaks): |
• (currency subdivision mark): ., ·
• (abbreviation mark): ., -

Derived terms

• / / (used to mark broad phonemic transcriptions)
• / / (used to italicize text in the absence of italic formatting)

Usage notes

• Various uses may simply be read out, as "even" for currency or "out of" for totals, or generally left unspoken, as with line breaks and date separations.
• The mark itself was originally known as the virgula or virgule in its medieval use as a form of period or comma. It is now defined by Unicode and ISO as the solidus, a late-19th-century British term for the shilling mark. (Some typographers mistaken label this mark as the virgule and distinguish the solidus as the fraction slash ⟨⁄⟩, but neither historical nor present official use supports such a distinction.) Now generally known by the American term slash, although still frequently known as a stroke in British English. For translations and less common English names, see slash.

Conjunction

/

1. (proscribed) exclusive or (used to link mutually-exclusive alternatives)

   I think s/he writes very well.

2. (sometimes proscribed) inclusive or (used to link compatible alternatives or joint items)

   He's an actor/model.

Synonyms

• (inclusive or): -, &

Symbol

/

1. (mathematics) An single-line division sign, used with full-size numerals. See also ∕ ‎(“division slash”).
2. (mathematics) A single-line fraction divider, used with full-size numerals. See also ⁄ ‎(“fraction slash”).
3. (historical, numismatics) The currency sign for British, Irish, Kenyan, &c. shillings.

Synonyms

• (division): ÷, ∕
• (fraction): ⁄, horizontal fraction bar
• (shilling mark): s.

Punctuation