Properly Punctuated – Word: Asterisk, *

Posted March 28, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Properly Punctuated, Self-Editing, Writing

We mostly know the asterisk as *. It is also a noun and a transitive verb. In all cases, an asterisk is used as a reference mark, an omission, something that’s doubtful, ungrammatical, or unacceptable.

The noun I knew, but as a verb? Who knew??

Most authorities state that the asterisk is rarely used for anything other than a reference symbol, but I suspect text messaging and social media has put paid to that.

So, the primary purpose of this post is to explore the asterisk as punctuation, but I can’t justify leaving out the word.

On a side note, every site I researched had a thing about its proper pronunciation: asterisk or asterisks . . . not -rix.

Style Guides

The APA uses asterisks in tables and mathematical work. The AP Stylebook bans the use of asterisks while the MLA bans the use of any symbols, including asterisks for footnotes.

The Chicago Manual of Style allows you to use asterisks (as opposed to numbers) when only a handful of footnotes appear in the entire book or paper. If more than one footnote is needed on the same page, then the acceptable sequence is * † ‡ §.

Yeah, sounds like it’s best to use asterisks very sparingly, particularly in formal writing. For less formal writing, still use them sparingly. Choose a usage for your book and keep to that “category” — redactions, substitutions, OR any rare footnotes to keep your reader from being confused. Poor asterisk. So unloved.

Credit to: Nordquist

Asterisk Forms

The original form of the asterisk was ※ and has since changed into a simpler star shape with any number of points from five to eight.

Credit to: History

The Properly Punctuated and Word explores . . .

. . . the proper use of quotation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, ellipsis, etc., including how to properly mark dialog, ahem. As Properly Punctuated is in no way complete, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on punctuation with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding. Same goes for interesting words you’ve encountered.

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Asterisk, (*)
As Punctuation: *
Definition: A symbol most frequently used to indicate a reference (usually a footnote, but it can indicate a clarification necessary to understand a statement). It may also indicate a grammatical utterance that a native speaker would reject, that is unacceptable, or that omits letters or words. General Rule: Use with care. See Style Guides above. POST CONTENTS for Punctuation: Ending a Sentence Clarify, a.k.a. Legal Disclaimer Footnote Types of Asterisks and Related Symbols
As Punctuation	As a Word
Rule: An asterisk always follows the punctuation mark of the sentence you are notating, including exclamation points and question marks. The exception to this rule is to follow the last word with the asterisk when a dash follows.	Part of Grammar:
He stated that his client had not lied.* Jones attempts to justify his decision as being sound!* Buy Big Bob’s Bird Baths! Birds love them!* There are risks to the asterisk*— Credit to: What	Noun; Verb, transitive Plural for the noun: asterisks Gerund: asterisking Third person present verb: asterisks Past tense or past participle: asterisked Present participle: asterisking
Rule: When used as a footnote, repeat the asterisk at the bottom of the page to create a visual connection between the location of the annotated material and the associated information. If there is more than one footnote on a page, consider using numbers or other symbols *.	Noun: [Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding] A typographical symbol () used to mark printed or written text, typically as a reference to a footnote or to stand for omitted matter [Company logo] Used as part of a trademarked company’s logogram [Historical linguistics] Symbol used to indicate an unattested reconstructed form [Descriptive linguistics] Symbol used to indicate that an expression is ungrammatical or in some other way unacceptable [Security] A symbol used to indicate redacted information [Mathematics] A symbol used to indicate multiplication [Computer science] A symbol commonly used as a wildcard character [Sports, Gambling] Something that makes an achievement less impressive or less complete A minor or insignificant person or thing [Publishing] Scene separator Verb, transitive*: [Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding] Mark (a word or piece of text) with an asterisk
While in court, Thomas attempted to justify his client’s actions.* At the bottom of the page: * Here, Thomas is referring to the police report filed on June 10, 2010, stating . . . A variety of research suggests that developing basic literacy skills in early childhood can contribute to greater success in acquiring strong comprehension skills later in school.^† At the bottom of the page: ^† A variety of research-based articles and ideas for developing early learning skills can be found at www.readingrockets.org. While it is generally assumed that all large dogs are in need of copious amounts of exercise that would prevent them from being suitable pets for smaller residences, recent research has suggested this is a fallacy.³ At the bottom of the page: ³ See Smith (2013) to see more information specific to large dogs and exercise needs. Credit to: Your
Rule: To indicate there’s a clarification in the “fine print”, usually a legal disclaimer. It’s particularly common in advertising and/or marketing. Credit to: What	Noun: There’s an asterisk used as a footnote that hasn’t been explained. Johnson & Johnson is known for its baby powder. AT&T was founded as Bell Telephone Company by Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson, and Gardiner Greene Hubbard. An asterisk is generally used to indicate that there is insufficient evidence to assume that it could exist or could once have existed in natural language, e.g., Achilles did hated Hector (Cerberus). “‘Why the triple-dashed asterisks did ye not let me belt him?’ grunted a voice” (Kipling). My social security number is --***. The question is simply asking you what 2 3 is. Can you give me an answer to 5 * 4? “If a user wished to find a document called Document 1, search terms such as Doc* and Dment would return this file” (Asterisk). It’s a new world record, but one with an asterisk. His was an unlikely rise from an asterisk in the polls to the winning candidate. The earliest example of an asterisk as a scene separator in a book is in Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius, a.k.a. The Sidereal Messenger, printed in 1610. Verb, transitive: He had asterisked the things about the case that still bothered him. Linguists asterisk unacceptable sentences. I don’t know what’s gotten into the boy, but he’s asterisking everything right and left. I have asterisked the books that are essential reading for the course.
The contest is open to all customers!* Submit your entry today! *All contestants must be 18 years of age or older.
Derivatives:
Adjective: asterisked
History of the Punctuation	History of the Word
The asterisk as a symbol has been in use since the Ice Age. Up to the 1600s, the asterisk was used mainly for footnotes and decorative purposes in scientific books.	Late Middle English via the late Latin from the Greek asteriskos meaning small star, a diminutive of astēr meaning star.

Asterisk, (*)

As Punctuation: *

Definition: A symbol most frequently used to indicate a reference (usually a footnote, but it can indicate a clarification necessary to understand a statement). It may also indicate a grammatical utterance that a native speaker would reject, that is unacceptable, or that omits letters or words.

General Rule: Use with care. See Style Guides above.

POST CONTENTS for Punctuation:

Ending a Sentence
Clarify, a.k.a. Legal Disclaimer
Footnote
Types of Asterisks and Related Symbols

As Punctuation

As a Word

Rule: An asterisk always follows the punctuation mark of the sentence you are notating, including exclamation points and question marks.

The exception to this rule is to follow the last word with the asterisk when a dash follows.

Part of Grammar:

He stated that his client had not lied.*

Jones attempts to justify his decision as being sound!*

Buy Big Bob’s Bird Baths! Birds love them!*

There are risks to the asterisk*—

Credit to: What

Noun; Verb, transitive

Plural for the noun: asterisks
Gerund: asterisking

Third person present verb: asterisks
Past tense or past participle: asterisked
Present participle: asterisking

Rule: When used as a footnote, repeat the asterisk at the bottom of the page to create a visual connection between the location of the annotated material and the associated information.

If there is more than one footnote on a page, consider using numbers or other symbols *.

Noun:
[Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding] A typographical symbol (*) used to mark printed or written text, typically as a reference to a footnote or to stand for omitted matter

[Company logo] Used as part of a trademarked company’s logogram

[Historical linguistics] Symbol used to indicate an unattested reconstructed form

[Descriptive linguistics] Symbol used to indicate that an expression is ungrammatical or in some other way unacceptable

[Security] A symbol used to indicate redacted information

[Mathematics] A symbol used to indicate multiplication

[Computer science] A symbol commonly used as a wildcard character

[Sports, Gambling] Something that makes an achievement less impressive or less complete

A minor or insignificant person or thing

[Publishing] Scene separator

Verb, transitive:
[Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding] Mark (a word or piece of text) with an asterisk

While in court, Thomas attempted to justify his client’s actions.*

At the bottom of the page:
* Here, Thomas is referring to the police report filed on June 10, 2010, stating . . .

A variety of research suggests that developing basic literacy skills in early childhood can contribute to greater success in acquiring strong comprehension skills later in school.^†

At the bottom of the page:
^† A variety of research-based articles and ideas for developing early learning skills can be found at www.readingrockets.org.

While it is generally assumed that all large dogs are in need of copious amounts of exercise that would prevent them from being suitable pets for smaller residences, recent research has suggested this is a fallacy.³

At the bottom of the page:
³ See Smith (2013) to see more information specific to large dogs and exercise needs.

Credit to: Your

Rule: To indicate there’s a clarification in the “fine print”, usually a legal disclaimer.

It’s particularly common in advertising and/or marketing.

Credit to: What

Noun:
There’s an asterisk used as a footnote that hasn’t been explained.

Johnson & Johnson is known for its baby powder.

AT&T was founded as Bell Telephone Company by Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson, and Gardiner Greene Hubbard.

An asterisk is generally used to indicate that there is insufficient evidence to assume that it could exist or could once have existed in natural language, e.g., *Achilles did hated Hector (Cerberus).

“‘Why the triple-dashed asterisks did ye not let me belt him?’ grunted a voice” (Kipling).

My social security number is ***-**-****.

The question is simply asking you what 2 * 3 is.

Can you give me an answer to 5 * 4?

“If a user wished to find a document called Document 1, search terms such as Doc* and D*ment* would return this file” (Asterisk).

It’s a new world record, but one with an asterisk.

His was an unlikely rise from an asterisk in the polls to the winning candidate.

The earliest example of an asterisk as a scene separator in a book is in Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius, a.k.a. The Sidereal Messenger, printed in 1610.

Verb, transitive:
He had asterisked the things about the case that still bothered him.

Linguists asterisk unacceptable sentences.

I don’t know what’s gotten into the boy, but he’s asterisking everything right and left.

I have asterisked the books that are essential reading for the course.

The contest is open to all customers!* Submit your entry today!

*All contestants must be 18 years of age or older.

Derivatives:

Adjective: asterisked

History of the Punctuation

History of the Word

The asterisk as a symbol has been in use since the Ice Age.

Up to the 1600s, the asterisk was used mainly for footnotes and decorative purposes in scientific books.

Late Middle English via the late Latin from the Greek asteriskos meaning small star, a diminutive of astēr meaning star.

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Types of Asterisks and Related Symbols

This chart notes some of the asterisks and other symbols you can use when footnoting or otherwise.

Credit to: Star

Symbol	Meaning	Usage	Hexadecimal Code
٭	Arabic five-pointed star	Used as bullet points, scene separators, narrator shifts	٭
*	Asterisk	Footnotes, omissions, bullet points, etc.	* &midast;
✱	Asterisk, heavy	Used as bullet points, scene separators, narrator shifts	✱
⁎	Asterisk, low	Used as bullet points, scene separators, narrator shifts	⁎
⁑	Two Asterisks aligned vertically	Symbol, icon	⁑
∗	Asterisk operator	As the infix operator when multiplying two numbers	∗
⊛	Circled asterisk operator	Indicates a special-defined operation that is similar to multiplication	⊛
❋	Asterisk, heavy eight teardrop-spoked propeller, a.k.a. turbofan	Indicates an award	❊
✲	Asterisk, open center	Warns of possible flooding	✲
⧆	Asterisk, squared	Mathematical symbol	⧆
✳	Asterisk, eight point	Used as bullet points, scene separators, narrator shifts	✳
✺	Asterisk, sixteen point	Used as bullet points, scene separators, narrator shifts	✺
⁂	Asterism	Divides subchapters or extended periods of text	⁂
†	Dagger Obelisk	Footnote; indicate death of a person or extinction of a species	† &dagger;
‡	Dagger, double Double cross	Footnote; it can also indicate the end of a footnote that has started with a dagger	‡ &ddagger;
***	Dinkus	Indicates a section break in text or can be used to censor an expletive F***	***
※	East Asian reference mark	Used as a regular asterisk BUT in Chinese, Japanese and Korean to introduce comments and remarks AND it’s inserted in the middle of the text instead of at the end	※
⁕	Flower punctuation mark Fleuron Printer’s flower	Decorative punctuation	⁕
	Imperial Aramaic section sign	General punctuation	𐡗
∥	Parallel to	Geometry	∥
¶	Pilcrow Paragraph mark	Identifies a paragraph	¶
§	Section sign Section symbol Section mark Double-s Silcrow	References individually numbered sections of a document; cites sections of a legal code.	§
☸	Wheel of Dharma Dharma chakra	Symbolizes Buddhism	☸

Credit to: McLeod

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Properly Punctuated posts on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Asterisk

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual. Ed 7. American Psychological Association: 2019. <https://amzn.to/3TOLJXw>.

Apple Dictionary

The Associated Press. The Associated Press Stylebook: 2022-2024. Associated Press: 2022. <https://amzn.to/3ZiNaOT>. Ebook.

“Asterisk.” Wikipedia. 20 Mar 2023. Web. 26 Mar 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk>.

Cambridge Dictionary: asterisk

Cerberus. “Meaning of Star/Asterisk in Linguistics.” Linguistics. StackExchange. 21 Sept 2011. Web. 26 Mar 2023. <https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/338/meaning-of-star-asterisk-in-linguistics>. Forum answer.

Chicago Manual of Style. Ed. 15. University of Chicago Press: 2003. <https://amzn.to/3JWIwSo>. The 17th edition is the most recent. <https://amzn.to/3JXugJ4>. Print.

Cormullion. “Asterisk.” cormullion’s blog. GitHub. 17 Oct 2020. Web. 26 Mar 2023. <https://cormullion.github.io/pages/2020-10-09-asterisk/>. Fascinating history on the asterisk.

Dictionary.com: asterisk

The Free Dictionary: asterisk

Galilei, Galileo. Albert Van Helden (trans) Sidereus Nuncius, or The Sidereal Messenger. The University of Chicago Press: 2016. <https://amzn.to/3JVIR6O>.

“History of Symbols: The Asterisk.” Munch:Studio. n.d. Web. 27 Mar 2023. <https://munch.studio/history-of-symbols-the-asterisk/>.

“Star Symbols.” HTML Symbols. n.d. Web. 27 Mar 2023. <https://www.htmlsymbols.xyz/star-symbols>.

Kipling, Rudyard. The Mutiny of the Mavericks. United States Book Company, New York: 1891. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform: 2014. <https://amzn.to/3nq0VOt>. Print.

McLeod, Danielle. “Asterisk Symbol (*) – Usage and Examples.” Punctuation. Grammarist. n.d. Web. 26 Mar 2023. <https://grammarist.com/punctuation/asterisk-symbol-usage-examples/>.

The Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook Ed 9. Modern Language Association of America: 2021. <https://amzn.to/3TPOMPm>

Nordquist, Richard. “Definition and Examples of Asterisks (*):
The uses and misuses of this punctuation mark.” ThoughtCo. Updated 30 May 2019. Web. 27 Mar 2023. <https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-asterisk-symbol-1689143>.

“What Are Asterisks ( * ) And How Do You Use Them?” Thesaurus.com. 5 Apr 2022. Web. 27 Mar 2023. <https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/asterisks/>.

YourDictionary Staff. “Footnote Examples and Format Tips.” YourDictionary.com. 20 May 2022. Web. 26 Mar 2023. <https://examples.yourdictionary.com/footnote-examples.html>.

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