Numero sign
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| № |
The Numero sign (U+2116) or Number sign is used in many languages to indicate ordinal numbering, especially in names and titles, rather than the number sign, "#". For example, instead of "Number 4 Boxing Drive" or "#4 Boxing Drive", one could write "№ 4 Boxing Drive".
The symbol is a combination of the Latin letter "N" with a grapheme resembling the masculine ordinal indicator (or superscript "o", sometimes underlined).
On typewriters and computers that do not support this symbol, it is acceptable and commonplace to substitute it with the trigraph "No." (letter "N", letter "o", and a period).
On typewriters and computers that support the degree sign or (preferably) masculine ordinal indicator, a digraph starting with "N", such as "N°" or "Nº", may suffice as a substitute for the numero sign, but only if it is to be presented exclusively within visual media, in a typeface and sizing that results in a passable approximation of the numero sign. Such digraphs are inappropriate for representing the numero sign in computer data, in general.
On Russian computer keyboards, № is often located on the "3" key, instead of the other number sign ("#").
In HTML, the numero sign (if it cannot be entered directly) may be represented by № or №.
The Unicode Standard states:
- U+2116 NUMERO SIGN is provided both for Cyrillic use, where it looks like [semi-cursive "N" followed by raised, underlined small "o"], and for compatibility with Asian standards, where it looks like [angular "N" followed by raised, underlined small "o", followed by a period]. The French practice is not to use the symbol character per se, but rather to use an “N” or an “n”, according to context, followed by a superscript o (No or no; plural Nos or nos).[1]
[edit] References
- ^ www.unicode.org (pdf)
