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This article describes the typographical or mathematical symbol. For other meanings, see Degree

The degree symbol (°, Unicode: U+00B0, HTML: °) is a typographical symbol, or glyph, that is used to represent degrees of arc (see Geographic coordinate system ) or temperature.

1°, 2°, 3°, etc., are also common abbreviations, especially in the scientific field, for primary, secondary, tertiary, and so on.

Due to a similar appearance in some fonts in print and on computer screens, some other characters may be mistakenly substituted for it: the "masculine ordinal indicator" (U+00BA, º ), the "ring above" (U+02DA, ˚ ), "superscript zero" (U+2070, ⁰ ), superscript zero proper ( ⁰ ) or superscript letter "o" ( ^o ), and the "ring operator" (U+2218, ∘ ).

Since at least the age of desktop publishing, personal computers have been able to typographically produce the degree symbol. On Apple Computer Mac OSes, the degree sign can be typed by Option-Shift-8 on most keyboard layouts, including Australian, British, Canadian and U.S. Extended layouts. (Option-K, on the other hand, is "ring above") On Microsoft Windows OSes, the degree sign can be typed by ALT + 0176 on the numeric keypad. On Linux and other Unix-like systems, many keyboard layouts allow typing the degree sign with AltGr+Shift+0.

Typography

The degree symbol was originally an ancient symbol representing the Sun.^{[citation needed]}

Degrees of arc

In the case of degrees of arc, the degree symbol follows the number without intervening space.

Temperatures

Degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit

In contrast to expressing degrees of arc, in the case of degrees of temperature, several scientific and engineering standards bodies, BIPM and the U.S. Government Printing Office prescribe printing the degree symbol with a space between the degree symbol and the number, as in "10 °C".^[1]^[2] However, in many professionally typeset works, including scientific works, such as those published by The University of Chicago Press or Oxford University Press, the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the C or F representing Celsius or Fahrenheit, as in "10°C".^[3] This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research.^[4] Still others place the space between the degree sign and the letter (10° C), in a manner probably no longer recommended by any of the major style guides.

Kelvin

Use of the degree symbol to refer to temperatures measured in kelvin (symbol: K) was abolished in 1967 by the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM). Therefore, the freezing point of water, for instance, is today correctly written as simply 273.15 K. The SI fundamental temperature unit is now "kelvin", and no longer "degrees Kelvin" (note the lower case).

References

^ The International System of Units (PDF) (8th ed.), Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, 2006
^ Style Manual (PDF), United States Government Printing Office, 2000, pp. p171 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
^ Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.), 2006 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check |first= value (help)
^ UCAR, UCAR Communications Style Guide, retrieved 2007-09-01 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

[1] The International System of Units (PDF) (8th ed.), Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, 2006

[2] Style Manual (PDF), United States Government Printing Office, 2000, pp. p171 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

[3] Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.), 2006 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check |first= value (help)

[4] UCAR, UCAR Communications Style Guide, retrieved 2007-09-01 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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 === Temperatures ===
 ==== Degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit ====
-In contrast to expressing degrees of arc, in the case of degrees of temperature, several scientific and engineering standards bodies, [[BIPM]] and the [[U.S. Government Printing Office]] prescribe printing the degree symbol with a space between the degree symbol and the number, as in "10&nbsp;°C".<ref>{{Citation | title = The International System of Units | publisher = Bureau International des Poids et Mesures | year = 2006 | edition = 8 | url = http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Style Manual | publisher = United States Government Printing Office| year = 2000 | pages = 171 | url = http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/2000/chap10.pdf }}</ref> However, in many professionally typeset works, including scientific works, such as those published by [[The University of Chicago]] Press or [[Oxford University Press]], the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the C or F representing [[Celsius]] or [[Fahrenheit]], as in "10°C".<ref>{{Citation | first = [[University of Chicago]] | title = Chicago Manual of Style | edition = 15 | year = 2006 | url = http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.}}</ref> This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research.<ref>
+In contrast to expressing degrees of arc, in the case of degrees of temperature, several scientific and engineering standards bodies, [[BIPM]] and the [[U.S. Government Printing Office]] prescribe printing the degree symbol with a space between the degree symbol and the number, as in "10&nbsp;°C".<ref>{{Citation | title = The International System of Units | publisher = Bureau International des Poids et Mesures | year = 2006 | edition = 8th | url = http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Style Manual | publisher = United States Government Printing Office| year = 2000 | pages = p171 | url = http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/2000/chap10.pdf }}</ref> However, in many professionally typeset works, including scientific works, such as those published by [[The University of Chicago]] Press or [[Oxford University Press]], the degree symbol is printed with no spaces between the number, the symbol, and the C or F representing [[Celsius]] or [[Fahrenheit]], as in "10°C".<ref>{{Citation | first = [[University of Chicago]] | title = Chicago Manual of Style | edition = 15th | year = 2006 | url = http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.}}</ref> This is also the practice of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research.<ref>
 {{Citation | last = UCAR | author-link = University Corporation for Atmospheric Research | title = UCAR Communications Style Guide | url =http://www.ucar.edu/communications/styleguide/d.shtml | accessdate = [[2007-09-01]] }}</ref> Still others place the space between the degree sign and the letter (10°&nbsp;C), in a manner probably no longer recommended by any of the major style guides.