View source for Section sign

{{Short description|Symbol (§) used to reference a section number}}

{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Infobox symbol
| mark     = §
| unicode  = {{unichar|00A7|html=}}
| see also = {{unichar|00B6|nlink=}}
}}

The '''section sign''' ('''§''') is a [[typographical]] [[character (symbol)|character]] for referencing individually numbered [[Section (documents)|sections]] of a document; it is frequently used when citing sections of a [[legal code]].<ref name="Standler">{{cite web | title = Legal Research and Citation Style in USA |first=Ronald M. |last=Standler | url = http://www.rbs0.com/lawcite.htm#anchor333333 | year = 2004 | access-date = 2009-12-15}}</ref> It is also known as the '''section symbol''', '''section mark''', '''double-s''', or '''silcrow'''.<ref name="Radoeva2017"/><ref name="Butterick">{{ cite web | first = Matthew | last = Butterick | title = Butterick's Practical Typography: Paragraphs and Section Marks| url = https://practicaltypography.com/paragraph-and-section-marks.html | access-date = 2017-10-07}}</ref> In other languages it may be called the "paragraph symbol" (for example, {{langx|de|Paragrafzeichen}}). The section sign typically appears akin to a letter S stacked on top of another S.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Use a Section Mark or Silcrow {{!}} Monotype |url=https://www.monotype.com/resources/punctuation-series-section-sign |website=www.monotype.com |language=en |date=2 August 2022}}</ref>

== Use ==
The section sign is often used when referring to a specific section of a [[legal code]]. For example, in [[Bluebook]] style, "[[Title 16 of the United States Code]] Section 580p" becomes "16 U.S.C. §{{nbsp}}580p".<ref name="GL-BB">{{cite web |title=Guides: Bluebook Guide: Federal Statutes |url=http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=261289&p=2383798 |publisher=[[Georgetown Law|Georgetown University Law Library]] |access-date=December 6, 2018 |language=en |date=August 9, 2018}}</ref> The section sign is frequently used along with the ''[[pilcrow]]'' (or ''paragraph sign''), {{char|¶}}, to reference a specific [[paragraph]] within a section of a document. However, some jurisdiction prefer the sign be avoided, and rather that the word "section" be written out in full.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Symbols :: California Secretary of State |url=https://www.sos.ca.gov/web-standards/writing/symbols |access-date=2025-07-05 |website=www.sos.ca.gov}}</ref> 

While {{char|§}} is usually read in spoken English as the word "section", many other languages use the word "paragraph" exclusively to refer to a section of a document (especially of legal text), and use other words to describe a paragraph in the English sense. Consequently, in those cases "§" may be read as "''paragraph"'', and may occasionally also be described as a "paragraph sign", but this is a description of its usage, not a formal name.<ref name="unicode-latin1">{{cite web | title = The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 – C1 Controls and Latin-1 Supplement | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0080.pdf | access-date = 2017-10-07}}</ref><ref name="radar">{{cite web |title=Some text-to-speech voices read the section symbol as paragraph instead of section |url=http://www.openradar.me/32449535 |access-date=2017-10-07 }}</ref> 

When duplicated, as {{char|§§}}, it is read as the plural "sections". For example, "§§{{nbsp}}13–21" would be read as "sections 13 through 21", much as {{char|pp.}} (pages) is the plural of {{char|p.}}, meaning [[page (paper)|page]].

It may also be used with footnotes when [[asterisk]] {{char|*}}, [[Dagger (mark)|dagger]] {{char|†}}, and [[Dagger (mark)|double dagger]] {{char|‡}} have already been used on a given page.

It is common practice to follow the section sign with a [[non-breaking space]] so that the symbol is kept with the section number being cited.<ref name="Standler" /><ref name="Felici">{{cite book |last=Felici |first=James |year=2012 |title=The Complete Manual of Typography |edition=Second |isbn=978-0-321-77326-5 }}</ref>{{rp|212, 233}}

== Unicode ==
[[File:Parágrafo.PNG|frame|Two common representations of the section sign]]
The section sign appeared in several early computer text encodings. It was placed at {{tt|0xA7}} (167) in [[ISO-8859-1]], a position that was inherited by Unicode as [[code point]] {{unichar|00A7|Section Sign}}.  Representation of the sign is an artistic decision within the overall design language of the typeface (or [[computer font]]): the two more commonly seen forms are shown here.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manual: *@©™®†‡§¶❦☜ |url=https://type.today/en/journal/etc#pilcrow-paragraph-mark-section-sign |website=type.today |language=en}}</ref> In all cases, the sign is encoded by U+00A7.

== Origin ==
Two possible origins are often posited for the section sign: most probably, that it is a [[typographical ligature |ligature]] formed by the combination of two [[S]] glyphs (from the [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:en:signum#Latin |signum]] [[wikt:en:sectio#Latin |sectiōnis]]'').<ref name="Webb-2018">{{cite book |title=Clash of Symbols |last=Webb |first=Stephen |year=2018 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |type=eBook |isbn=978-3-319-71350-2 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=529GDwAAQBAJ&dq=signum+sectionis&pg=PA22}}</ref><ref name="Radoeva2017">{{cite web |publisher=[[Monotype Imaging]] |title=The section sign |series=Punctuation series |last=Radoeva |first=Krista |url=https://www.fontsmith.com/blog/2017/01/12/punctuation-series-the-section-sign |date=2017-01-12 |access-date=2020-07-19}}</ref><ref name="Webster1886"/><ref>{{cite book |page=32 |url={{GBurl|id=aR1PAAAAYAAJ}} |title=Aids to English Composition, Prepared for Students of All Grades |first=Richard Green |last=Parker |year=1851 |location=New York |publisher=[[Harper & Brothers]]}}</ref> Some scholars, however, are skeptical of this explanation.<ref>{{cite thesis |year=1894 |first=Erwin Herbert |last=Lewis |title=The History of the English Paragraph |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=11, 16–17 |url={{GBurl|id=HP00AQAAMAAJ}} |oclc=6077629}}</ref>

Others have theorized that it is an adaptation of the [[Ancient Greek language |Ancient Greek]] {{lang |grc |παράγραφος}} (''[[paragraphos]]''),<ref name="Webster1886">{{cite book |via=[[Internet Archive]] |page=1784 |title= Webster's Complete Dictionary of the English Language |last=Webster |first=Noah |author-link=Noah Webster |year=1886 |location=London |publisher=[[George Bell & Sons]] |edition=Authorized and Unabridged |chapter=Arbitrary signs used in writing and printing |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/websterscomplete00webs/page/1784/mode/2up}}</ref> a catch-all term for a class of [[punctuation marks]] used by [[scribes]] with diverse shapes and intended uses.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garulli |first=Valentina |title=The Materiality of Text: Placement, Perception, and Presence of Inscribed Texts in Classical Antiquity |date=2018-10-09 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-04-37943-5 |editor-last=Petrovic |editor-first=Andrej |page=106 |chapter=Lectional Signs in Greek Verse Inscriptions |type=eBook |doi=10.1163/9789004379435_006 |s2cid=198732053 |editor2=Thomas |editor-first2=Edmund |editor3=Petrovic |editor-first3=Ivana}}</ref>

The modern form of the sign, with its modern meaning, has been in use since the [[15th century]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The history of the English paragraph |page= [https://archive.org/details/historyofenglish00lewirich/page/16/mode/1up 16] |via=Archive.org |last=Lewis |first=Edwin Herbert |date=1894 |publisher=University of Chicago}}</ref>

== In literature  ==
In [[Jaroslav Hašek]]'s ''[[The Good Soldier Švejk]]'', the {{Char|§}} symbol is used repeatedly to mean "[[bureaucracy]]". In his English translation of 1930, [[Paul Selver]] translated it as "[[red tape]]".

== See also ==
* ''[[Scilicet]]'' ("it may be known") is sometimes rendered using a § mark instead of "viz."

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Section signs}}

{{navbox punctuation}}

[[Category:Punctuation]]
[[Category:Typographical symbols]]