Slash (punctuation) — Safekipedia Discoverer

The slash is a slanting line punctuation mark /. It is also known as a stroke or solidus, and has several other historical or technical names. Though it may look simple, the slash has many important uses in writing and technology.

Originally, the slash was sometimes used like a modern period or comma. Today, it is most commonly used to show division in math problems and to write fractions. For example, we use a slash in “1/2” to mean one-half.

People also use the slash as a date separator, like in “4/16/2026,” to show April 16, 2026. It helps us write dates more clearly.

The slash can also show alternatives or related terms. For instance, we might write “and/or” to mean “and” or “or.” This makes writing more flexible and precise.

Because of its many uses, the slash is a very useful symbol in both everyday writing and computer technology.

History

The slash has been used in writing for a very long time. It started as a special kind of dash called the virgule in medieval Europe. Over time, it was used like a period or a comma. In France, it even helped show when a word continued on the next line.

In the 18th century, people in England called it the "oblique." Later, it became known as the "stroke" or "solidus." Today we usually call it a "slash," a name that became popular with the rise of computers, where it is often called a "forward slash" to differntiate it from the backslash used in systems like MS-DOS and Windows.

Usage

The slash is a punctuation mark that looks like a slanting line (/). It serves many purposes in writing and communication.

Commonly, the slash is used to connect alternatives or related terms, acting like the word "or." For example, "yes/no" means you can choose either yes or no. It’s also used to show gender-neutral language, like writing "he/she" instead of just "he" or "she." In mathematics, the slash represents division, such as in fractions like 1/2, meaning one divided by two. It can also separate parts of a date, like writing 9/11 for September 11 in American format.

Spacing

A slash is usually written without spaces on either side when it connects single words, letters, or symbols. However, there are some exceptions. For example, when quoting verse or prose, spaces might be used to show the start of a new line or paragraph.

When typing a web address or computer path, new lines should come before a slash but not between two slashes.

Unicode

Though the "ASCII slash" is a reserved character that is prohibited in Windows file and folder names, the big solidus is permitted (first box above). In this context, it is very similar to the slash (second box).

The slash, also called a solidus, is a common character that was first used in ASCII with the code 47 or 0x2F. Unicode also uses this code and adds several related characters, including:

U+002F / SOLIDUS (/)
U+0337 ◌̷ COMBINING SHORT SOLIDUS OVERLAY (for strikethrough)
U+0338 ◌̸ COMBINING LONG SOLIDUS OVERLAY (for strikethrough)
U+2044 ⁄ FRACTION SLASH
U+2215 ∕ DIVISION SLASH
U+2571 ╱ BOX DRAWINGS LIGHT DIAGONAL UPPER RIGHT TO LOWER LEFT
U+29F8 ⧸ BIG SOLIDUS
U+FF0F ／ FULLWIDTH SOLIDUS (fullwidth version of solidus)
U+1F67C 🙼 VERY HEAVY SOLIDUS

The fraction slash helps show numbers as fractions, like turning "1 / 2" into "½". Many fonts and programs now support this, but some still use special characters for fractions. Pre-made fractions like ⅔ are also available in Unicode.

Alternative names

The slash can be spoken as "and," "or," "and/or," "to," or "cum" when it separates compounds. In fractions, division, and numbering, it may be read as "over" or "out of." It can also mean "per" or "a(n)" in units like km/h and prices such as $~/kg, where the slash represents "each."

Name	Used for
diagonal	An uncommon name for the slash in all its uses,
division slash	This is the Unicode Consortium's formal name for the variant of the slash used to mark division. (U+2215 ∕ DIVISION SLASH)
forward slash	A retronym used to distinguish slash from a backslash following the popularization of MS-DOS and other Microsoft operating systems, which use the backslash for paths in its file system. Less often forward stroke (UK), foreslash, front slash, and frontslash. It is possible even to see such back-formations as reverse backslash.
fraction slash	This is the Unicode Consortium's formal name for the low slash used to mark fractions. (U+2044 ⁄ FRACTION SLASH) Also sometimes known as the fraction bar, although this more commonly refers to the horizontal bar style, as in ⁠1/2⁠. When used as a fraction bar, this form of the mark is less vertical than an ASCII slash, generally close to 45° and kerned on both sides; this use is distinguished by Unicode as the fraction slash. (This use is sometimes mistakenly described as the sole meaning of "solidus", with its use as a shilling mark and slash distinguished under the name "virgule".)
oblique	A formerly common name for the slash in all its uses. Also oblique stroke, oblique dash, etc.
scratch comma	A modern name for the virgule's historic use as a form of comma.
separatrix	Originally, the vertical line separating integers from decimals before the advent of the decimal point; later used for the vertical bar or slash used in proofreader's marginalia to denote the intended replacement for a letter or word struckthrough in proofed text or to separate margin notes. Sometimes misapplied to virgules.
shilling mark	A development of the long S ſ used as an abbreviation for the (obsolete) British shilling (Latin: solidus), and also for some modern-day currencies (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia), where it acts as a decimal separator (between shillings and cents). The 'slash' is known as a "shilling stroke".
slant	From its shape, an infrequent name except (as slants) in its use to mark pronunciations off from other text and as the original ASCII name of the character. Also slant line(s) or bar(s).
slash mark	An alternative name used to distinguish the punctuation mark from the word's other senses.
slat	An uncommon name for the slash used by the esoteric programming language INTERCAL. Also slak.
solidus	Another name for the mark (derived from the Latin form of 'shilling'), also applied to other slashes separating numbers or letters, used in typography, and adopted by the ISO and Unicode as their formal name for the ASCII slash ("slant"). (U+002F / SOLIDUS) The solidus's use as a division sign is distinguished as the division slash.
stroke	A contraction of the phrase oblique stroke, used in telegraphy. It is particularly employed in reading the mark out loud: "he stroke she" is a common British reading of "he/she". "Slash" has, however, become common in Britain in computing contexts, while some North American amateur radio enthusiasts employ the British "stroke". Less frequently, "stroke" is also used to refer to hyphens.
virgule	A development of virgula ("twig"), the original medieval Latin name of the character when it was used as a scratch comma and caesura mark. Now primarily used as the name of the slash when it is used to mark line breaks in quotations. Sometimes mistakenly distinguished as a formal name for the slash, as against the solidus's supposed use as a fraction slash. Formerly sometimes anglicized in British sources as the virgil.