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Degree symbol
The degree symbol or degree sign, °, is a glyph or symbol that is used, among other things, to represent degrees of arc (e.g. in geographic coordinate systems), hours (in the medical field), degrees of temperature or alcohol proof. The symbol consists of a small superscript circle.
The word degree is equivalent to Latin gradus which, since the medieval period, could refer to any stage in a graded system of ranks or steps. The number of the rank in question was indicated by ordinal numbers, in abbreviation with the ordinal indicator (a superscript letter ⟨o⟩).
Use of "degree" specifically for the degrees of arc, used in conjunction with Arabic numerals, became common in the 16th century, but this was initially without the use of an ordinal marker or degree symbol: instead, various abbreviation of gradus (e.g., Gra., Gr., gr., G.). The modern notation appears in print in the 1570s, with a borderline example by Jacques Pelletier du Mans in 1569, and was popularized by, among others, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, but didn't become universal.
Similarly, the introduction of the temperature scales with degrees in the 18th century was at first without such symbols, but with the word "gradus" spelled out. Use of the degree symbol was introduced for temperature in the later 18th century and became widespread in the early 19th century. Antoine Lavoisier in his "Opuscules physiques et chymiques" (1774) used the masculine ordinal indicator with Arabic numerals – for example, when he wrote in the introduction:
The 1º. is to be read as primo meaning "in the first place", followed by 2º. (secundo, "in the second place"), etc. In the same work, when Lavoisier gives a temperature, he spells out the word "degree" explicitly.
An early use of the degree symbol for temperature is that by Henry Cavendish in 1776 for degrees of the Fahrenheit scale.
The symbol is also declared as a notation for degrees of arc as early as 1831, in an American mathematics textbook for schools.
In the case of degrees of angular arc, the degree symbol follows the number without any intervening space, e.g. 30°. The addition of minute and second of arc follows the degree units, with intervening spaces (optionally, non-breaking space) between the sexagesimal degree subdivisions but no spaces between the numbers and units, for example 30° 12′ 5″.
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Degree symbol AI simulator
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Degree symbol
The degree symbol or degree sign, °, is a glyph or symbol that is used, among other things, to represent degrees of arc (e.g. in geographic coordinate systems), hours (in the medical field), degrees of temperature or alcohol proof. The symbol consists of a small superscript circle.
The word degree is equivalent to Latin gradus which, since the medieval period, could refer to any stage in a graded system of ranks or steps. The number of the rank in question was indicated by ordinal numbers, in abbreviation with the ordinal indicator (a superscript letter ⟨o⟩).
Use of "degree" specifically for the degrees of arc, used in conjunction with Arabic numerals, became common in the 16th century, but this was initially without the use of an ordinal marker or degree symbol: instead, various abbreviation of gradus (e.g., Gra., Gr., gr., G.). The modern notation appears in print in the 1570s, with a borderline example by Jacques Pelletier du Mans in 1569, and was popularized by, among others, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, but didn't become universal.
Similarly, the introduction of the temperature scales with degrees in the 18th century was at first without such symbols, but with the word "gradus" spelled out. Use of the degree symbol was introduced for temperature in the later 18th century and became widespread in the early 19th century. Antoine Lavoisier in his "Opuscules physiques et chymiques" (1774) used the masculine ordinal indicator with Arabic numerals – for example, when he wrote in the introduction:
The 1º. is to be read as primo meaning "in the first place", followed by 2º. (secundo, "in the second place"), etc. In the same work, when Lavoisier gives a temperature, he spells out the word "degree" explicitly.
An early use of the degree symbol for temperature is that by Henry Cavendish in 1776 for degrees of the Fahrenheit scale.
The symbol is also declared as a notation for degrees of arc as early as 1831, in an American mathematics textbook for schools.
In the case of degrees of angular arc, the degree symbol follows the number without any intervening space, e.g. 30°. The addition of minute and second of arc follows the degree units, with intervening spaces (optionally, non-breaking space) between the sexagesimal degree subdivisions but no spaces between the numbers and units, for example 30° 12′ 5″.