Symbol (typeface)

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Symbol is one of the four standard fonts available on most PostScript-based printers. It contains a complete unaccented Greek alphabet (upper and lower case) and a selection of commonly used mathematical symbols as well. Such as it fits into any standard classification, it is a serif font designed in the style of Times Roman.

Due to lack of diacritical characters as well as a non-standard character set, Symbol cannot easily be used to type the Greek language, though it has been used for such in the absence of proper Greek fonts. Its primary purpose is to typeset mathematical expressions.

The Symbol font is occasionally used -- to the amusement of those who recognize Greek characters -- as a source of wiggly dingbats. [1]