Equals sign (=)
The equals sign (=) means the two sides have the same value. a = b is read “a is equal to b”.
How to read it
OpenStax’s Prealgebra calls = the equal sign and reads a = b as “a is equal to b”. It is the keyboard character U+003D, which Unicode names EQUALS SIGN.
Also searched as: =, equal sign, equals symbol.
Look-alikes
Unicode lists the signs built from =: ≈ (almost equal to), ≠ (not equal to) and ≡ (identical to). In the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions, ≡ has two readings: “equals by definition” and modular equivalence. The heavy equals sign 🟰 (U+1F7F0) is a separate character from =.
More math symbols
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Sources
- C0 Controls and Basic Latin: Range 0000–007F (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Unicode Consortium, Basic Latin, 003D
- Prealgebra 2e, 2.1 Use the Language of Algebra, OpenStax (Rice University), Equality Symbol
- NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions: Introduction (Common Notations and Definitions), U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Common Notations and Definitions
- Earliest Uses of Symbols of Relation, Jeff Miller, Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols, MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews, Equality
- A History of Mathematical Notations, Vol. I: Notations in Elementary Mathematics, Florian Cajori (Chicago: Open Court, 1928); full text of the Wellcome Collection copy, Internet Archive, §§ 168, 262, 264, 267
Last reviewed September 30, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research