LaTeX:Symbols
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This article will provide a short list of commonly used LaTeX symbols.
Contents
Common Symbols
Operators
Relations
Finding Other Symbols
Here are some external resources for finding less commonly used symbols:
-
Detexify is an app which allows you to draw the symbol you'd like and shows you the
code for it!
-
MathJax (what allows us to use
on the web) maintains a list of supported commands.
-
The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List.
Operators
Relations
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\le | ![]() |
\ge | ![]() |
\neq |
![]() |
\sim | ![]() |
\ll | ![]() |
\gg |
![]() |
\doteq | ![]() |
\simeq | ![]() |
\subset |
![]() |
\supset | ![]() |
\approx | ![]() |
\asymp |
![]() |
\subseteq | ![]() |
\supseteq | ![]() |
\cong |
![]() |
\smile | ![]() |
\sqsubset | ![]() |
\sqsupset |
![]() |
\equiv | ![]() |
\frown | ![]() |
\sqsubseteq |
![]() |
\sqsupseteq | ![]() |
\propto | ![]() |
\bowtie |
![]() |
\in | ![]() |
\ni | ![]() |
\prec |
![]() |
\succ | ![]() |
\vdash | ![]() |
\dashv |
![]() |
\preceq | ![]() |
\succeq | ![]() |
\models |
![]() |
\perp | ![]() |
\parallel | ||
![]() |
\mid | ![]() |
\bumpeq |
Negations of many of these relations can be formed by just putting \not before the symbol, or by slipping an n between the \ and the word. Here are a few examples, plus a few other negations; it works for many of the others as well.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\nmid | ![]() |
\nleq | ![]() |
\ngeq |
![]() |
\nsim | ![]() |
\ncong | ![]() |
\nparallel |
![]() |
\not< | ![]() |
\not> | ![]() |
\not= |
![]() |
\not\le | ![]() |
\not\ge | ![]() |
\not\sim |
![]() |
\not\approx | ![]() |
\not\cong | ![]() |
\not\equiv |
![]() |
\not\parallel | ![]() |
\nless | ![]() |
\ngtr |
![]() |
\lneq | ![]() |
\gneq | ![]() |
\lnsim |
![]() |
\lneqq | ![]() |
\gneqq |
To use other relations not listed here, such as =, >, and <, in LaTeX, you may just use the symbols on your keyboard.
Greek Letters
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\alpha | ![]() |
\beta | ![]() |
\gamma | ![]() |
\delta |
![]() |
\epsilon | ![]() |
\varepsilon | ![]() |
\zeta | ![]() |
\eta |
![]() |
\theta | ![]() |
\vartheta | ![]() |
\iota | ![]() |
\kappa |
![]() |
\lambda | ![]() |
\mu | ![]() |
\nu | ![]() |
\xi |
![]() |
\pi | ![]() |
\varpi | ![]() |
\rho | ![]() |
\varrho |
![]() |
\sigma | ![]() |
\varsigma | ![]() |
\tau | ![]() |
\upsilon |
![]() |
\phi | ![]() |
\varphi | ![]() |
\chi | ![]() |
\psi |
![]() |
\omega |
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\Gamma | ![]() |
\Delta | ![]() |
\Theta | ![]() |
\Lambda |
![]() |
\Xi | ![]() |
\Pi | ![]() |
\Sigma | ![]() |
\Upsilon |
![]() |
\Phi | ![]() |
\Psi | ![]() |
\Omega |
Headline text
WHAT DA BEEP???
Arrows
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\gets | ![]() |
\to |
![]() |
\leftarrow | ![]() |
\Leftarrow |
![]() |
\rightarrow | ![]() |
\Rightarrow |
![]() |
\leftrightarrow | ![]() |
\Leftrightarrow |
![]() |
\mapsto | ![]() |
\hookleftarrow |
![]() |
\leftharpoonup | ![]() |
\leftharpoondown |
![]() |
\rightleftharpoons | ![]() |
\longleftarrow |
![]() |
\Longleftarrow | ![]() |
\longrightarrow |
![]() |
\Longrightarrow | ![]() |
\longleftrightarrow |
![]() |
\Longleftrightarrow | ![]() |
\longmapsto |
![]() |
\hookrightarrow | ![]() |
\rightharpoonup |
![]() |
\rightharpoondown | ![]() |
\leadsto |
![]() |
\uparrow | ![]() |
\Uparrow |
![]() |
\downarrow | ![]() |
\Downarrow |
![]() |
\updownarrow | ![]() |
\Updownarrow |
![]() |
\nearrow | ![]() |
\searrow |
![]() |
\swarrow | ![]() |
\nwarrow |
(For those of you who hate typing long strings of letters, \iff and \implies can be used in place of \Longleftrightarrow and \Longrightarrow respectively.)
Dots
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\cdot | ![]() |
\vdots | ||||
![]() |
\dots | ||||||
![]() |
\cdots | ||||||
![]() |
\ddots | ||||||
![]() |
\iddots |
Accents
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\hat{x} | ![]() |
\check{x} | ![]() |
\dot{x} |
![]() |
\breve{x} | ![]() |
\acute{x} | ![]() |
\ddot{x} |
![]() |
\grave{x} | ![]() |
\tilde{x} | ![]() |
\mathring{x} |
![]() |
\bar{x} | ![]() |
\vec{x} |
When applying accents to i and j, you can use \imath and \jmath to keep the dots from interfering with the accents:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\vec{\jmath} | ![]() |
\tilde{\imath} |
\tilde and \hat have wide versions that allow you to accent an expression:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\widehat{7+x} | ![]() |
\widetilde{abc} |
Others
Command Symbols
Some symbols are used in commands so they need to be treated in a special way.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\textdollar or $ | ![]() |
\& | ![]() |
\% | ![]() |
\# |
![]() |
\_ | ![]() |
\{ | ![]() |
\} | ![]() |
\backslash |
(Warning: Using $ for will result in
. This is a bug as far as we know. Depending on the version of
this is not always a problem.)
European Language Symbols
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
{\oe} | ![]() |
{\ae} | ![]() |
{\o} | ||
![]() |
{\OE} | ![]() |
{\AE} | ![]() |
{\AA} | ![]() |
{\O} |
![]() |
{\l} | ![]() |
{\ss} | ![]() |
!` | ||
![]() |
{\L} | ![]() |
{\SS} |
Bracketing Symbols
In mathematics, sometimes we need to enclose expressions in brackets or braces or parentheses. Some of these work just as you'd imagine in LaTeX; type ( and ) for parentheses, [ and ] for brackets, and | and | for absolute value. However, other symbols have special commands:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\{ | ![]() |
\} | ![]() |
\| |
![]() |
\backslash | ![]() |
\lfloor | ![]() |
\rfloor |
![]() |
\lceil | ![]() |
\rceil | ![]() |
\langle |
![]() |
\rangle |
You might notice that if you use any of these to typeset an expression that is vertically large, like
- (\frac{a}{x} )^2
the parentheses don't come out the right size:
If we put \left and \right before the relevant parentheses, we get a prettier expression:
- \left(\frac{a}{x} \right)^2
gives
\left and \right can also be used to resize the following symbols:
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\uparrow | ![]() |
\downarrow | ![]() |
\updownarrow |
![]() |
\Uparrow | ![]() |
\Downarrow | ![]() |
\Updownarrow |
Multi-Size Symbols
Some symbols render differently in inline math mode and in display mode. Display mode occurs when you use \[...\] or $$...$$, or environments like \begin{equation}...\end{equation}, \begin{align}...\end{align}. Read more in the commands section of the guide about how symbols which take arguments above and below the symbols, such as a summation symbol, behave in the two modes.
In each of the following, the two images show the symbol in display mode, then in inline mode.
Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command | Symbol | Command |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
\sum | ![]() |
\int | ![]() |
\oint |
![]() |
\prod | ![]() |
\coprod | ![]() |
\bigcap |
![]() |
\bigcup | ![]() |
\bigsqcup | ![]() |
\bigvee |
![]() |
\bigwedge | ![]() |
\bigodot | ![]() |
\bigotimes |
![]() |
\bigoplus | ![]() |
\biguplus |