What ° means, how it differs from º, and how to type it — click to copy.
Click to copy · U+00B0
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Character | ° |
| Unicode code point | U+00B0 |
| Unicode name | DEGREE SIGN |
| Unicode block | Latin-1 Supplement |
| Category | Math / units symbol |
The small raised circle has marked "degrees of arc" in astronomy and navigation since at least the 16th and 17th centuries, dividing a full circle into 360 parts for measuring angles — a convention inherited from ancient Babylonian base-60 mathematics. The circle shape itself likely echoes the way a full circle (360°) was already visualized as a ring on astronomical charts.
Its second major job — marking temperature — arrived once standardized thermometer scales were invented: Daniel Fahrenheit's scale in 1724 and Anders Celsius's in 1742 both adopted ° notation, cementing it as the universal symbol for "degrees" whether of arc, angle, latitude/longitude, or temperature.
| Platform | Works? |
|---|---|
| Instagram bio / caption | Yes |
| Discord | Yes |
| TikTok display name | Yes |
| Yes | |
| Roblox / PlayStation / Xbox username | No — alphanumeric only |
| Method | Input |
|---|---|
| Windows Alt code | Alt+0176 |
| Mac | Option+Shift+8 |
| HTML entity | ° or ° |
| CSS content | content: "\00B0" |
° pairs with Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, angle, and prime marks in the unit & measurement symbols library.
Browse Unit Symbols →° marks a unit of arc or angle (90° is a right angle) and, right after a number, a temperature reading (72°F, 22°C). It's also used in geographic coordinates (40.7128° N) and in noting compass bearings.
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0176 on the numeric keypad (Alt+0176). On Mac, press Option+Shift+8. In HTML, use the entity ° or °.
They look almost identical but are different Unicode characters. ° (U+00B0, DEGREE SIGN) is the math/temperature/angle symbol. º (U+00BA, MASCULINE ORDINAL INDICATOR) is a completely different character used in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian to write ordinal numbers like 1º ("primero"/"primeiro"). Using one in place of the other is a common but avoidable mix-up.