An angular bracket is a specific type of punctuation mark used to enclose words or figures, separating them from their surrounding context.
Understanding Angular Brackets
Angular brackets, also known as angle brackets, appear in the form of the less-than (<) and greater-than (>) symbols. They are typically used as a pair (<>) to mark off content.
As defined, Angle Brackets are either of a pair of marks in the form < used to enclose words or figures so as to separate them from their context.
Common Uses
While rarely used in English prose for standard punctuation, angular brackets serve important functions in various fields:
- Mathematic equations: They can denote different mathematical concepts depending on the context, such as inner products, inequalities, or sets.
- Computer programming: Angular brackets are fundamental in many programming languages and markup languages. For example, they are used to define tags in HTML (
<p>,<h1>), generics in C++ or Java (List<String>), or tuples in Python. - Indicating foreign speech: Sometimes used in transcription or linguistic texts to specifically mark speech that is not in the primary language of the document.
Appearance
Angular brackets look like this:
- Left Angle Bracket:
< - Right Angle Bracket:
>
When used as a pair, they enclose the relevant content: <example text>.
In summary, angular brackets are distinct symbols primarily used for technical purposes like mathematics and programming, or specific linguistic annotations, serving to clearly delineate specific elements within a larger structure.
