Dagger (†)
The dagger (†) is a reference mark, usually the second footnote symbol after the asterisk. Beside a date it marks the date of a death. The double dagger (‡) is the third footnote mark.
How to read it
Unicode encodes it as U+2020 DAGGER, with the other names obelisk, long cross and oblong cross, and the double dagger as U+2021, also called diesis or double obelisk. Merriam-Webster defines the dagger as “a character † used as a reference mark or to indicate a death date”. The US Government Publishing Office’s Style Manual puts it second in the order of footnote symbols: Asterisk (*), dagger, double dagger, section mark.
Also searched as: †, ‡, dagger meaning, dagger symbol, double dagger, double dagger symbol, obelisk.
In maths and physics
A superscript dagger marks the adjoint of an operator or matrix. In MIT’s Quantum Physics II notes, Barton Zwiebach writes Ω† for the adjoint of Ω, shows that in matrix terms it is the complex conjugate of the transpose, and calls an operator Hermitian if it equals its adjoint, Ω† = Ω. The same dagger appears in bra-ket notation, where Zwiebach writes the bra that goes with Ω|v⟩ as ⟨v|Ω†.
Look-alikes
The dagger looks like a Latin cross, which Unicode encodes separately as ✝ (U+271D); the Latin cross has its own history. Unicode also has a turned dagger ⸸ (U+2E38), a phonetic mark for retroflex pronunciation, and a triple dagger ⹋ (U+2E4B).
Where this symbol came from
oldsymbols.comLatin crossUnicode’s other names for † include long cross; the Latin cross ✝ is a separate character.More punctuation and typographic symbols
Browse symbols drawn with crosses.
Sources
- General Punctuation: Range 2000–206F (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Unicode Consortium, General Punctuation, 2020–2021
- Supplemental Punctuation: Range 2E00–2E7F (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Unicode Consortium, Supplemental Punctuation, 2E38 and 2E4B
- Dingbats, Range: 2700–27BF (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Unicode Consortium, Dingbats, 271D
- dagger (American Heritage Dictionary entry), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, dagger, n., sense 3
- obelisk (American Heritage Dictionary entry), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, obelisk, n., sense 2
- obelus (American Heritage Dictionary entry), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, obelus, n.
- diesis (American Heritage Dictionary entry), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, diesis, n.
- Dagger (Merriam-Webster), Merriam-Webster Dictionary, entry “dagger”, Merriam-Webster, dagger, noun, sense 2b
- Obelus (Merriam-Webster), Merriam-Webster Dictionary, entry “obelus”, Merriam-Webster, obelus, noun
- Etymologiae, Book I (Latin text), Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, I.21, “De notis sententiarum”, LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer, University of Chicago), I.21.3
- U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual (2016), GPO Style Manual, 2016 edition, U.S. Government Publishing Office, rule 15.14
- Dirac’s Bra and Ket Notation (8.05 Quantum Physics II lecture notes, B. Zwiebach), MIT OpenCourseWare, Fall 2013, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sec. 2.2–2.3
Last reviewed October 1, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research