Asterisk * Symbol Meaning: From Footnotes to Internet Censorship

You see the asterisk * everywhere. At the bottom of ads with the fine print. In text messages to fix a typo. In online chats to censor a word. On sports records that people argue about.

But this tiny star has been around for over 2,000 years. It was invented by an ancient Greek scholar who needed a way to mark the places in Homer’s poems where he thought something was wrong. From that one job, it grew into one of the most useful symbols on your keyboard.

The asterisk is special because it does so many different things depending on where you see it. A footnote mark in a book. A censorship tool online. A bold button in a chat. A multiplication sign in code. All the same little star.

In this guide you’ll learn where the asterisk came from, what it means in each of its many jobs and how a 2,300-year-old editing mark ended up censoring words on the internet. Easy words, fun story.

Where the asterisk came from

The word “asterisk” comes from the Greek word “asteriskos,” which means “little star.” As Wikipedia’s article on the asterisk explains, this is one of the oldest punctuation marks still in use today, dating back over 2,300 years.

The first known user was a man named Aristarchus of Samothrace, a Greek scholar who lived around 220 to 143 BC. He worked at the great library of Alexandria, where his job was to study and edit the poems of Homer.

Aristarchus needed a quick way to mark the spots where he thought Homer’s text had errors or where lines had been added by someone else. So he used a small star-shaped mark in the margins. That mark was the asterisk.

The name says it all. It’s a little star. The shape, a small point with lines going outward, has looked roughly the same for over two thousand years. Five or six points, always star-like, always small.

The many jobs of the asterisk

What makes the asterisk special is how many different things it does. Most punctuation marks have one job. The asterisk has at least eight.

1. Footnotes and references

This is the oldest and most classic use. A small * next to a word or sentence tells you to look at the bottom of the page for extra information. It’s a polite way of saying “there’s more to this, check below.”

You see this in books, articles and especially in advertising. A sign that says “Free delivery*” means there’s a catch, with the * telling you to find it in the small text at the bottom.

2. Censoring words

This use goes back to the 1700s, when writers started replacing letters in rude words with asterisks to avoid printing them in full. Words like “d**n” appeared in books, with the asterisks hiding the offensive letters.

Today this is one of the most common uses online. People type s**t, f**k or b***h in comments and chats to soften the word or get past content filters. The asterisks say “you know what word this is” without spelling it out.

3. Making text bold in chats

In many apps and platforms, wrapping a word in asterisks makes it bold or italic. Writing *hello* in Slack, WhatsApp or many forums shows up as bold hello. This comes from a text formatting system called Markdown, now standard in most messaging tools.

4. Fixing typos in messages

If you send a message with a mistake, you can send a follow-up like “*their” to correct it. The asterisk before the word tells the other person you’re fixing something from your last message. It’s a quick, widely understood shorthand.

More jobs: math, computers, sports

5. Multiplication in math and code

On a calculator or in a programming language, the asterisk means “multiply.” You write 3 * 5 instead of 3 x 5. This became standard because the x could be confused with the letter x in code.

6. Wildcard in computers

In file searches, the asterisk means “anything.” Typing *.jpg tells the computer “find every file that ends in .jpg, no matter what the name is.” It’s called a wildcard, like a joker card that can stand in for anything.

7. Disputed records in sports

When a sports record has an asterisk next to it, it means the record comes with a condition or a question. People say “there’s an asterisk on that record,” meaning it counts but not cleanly. It might have been set during a longer season, under different rules or during a controversy.

8. The star key on phones

On your phone’s number pad, the bottom-left button is marked with *. In phone systems, it’s called the “star key.” You use it to enter codes, navigate menus and activate features. Same little star, just doing a phone job.

Eight jobs, one small star

Here’s all eight uses at a glance.

No other punctuation mark does this many different things. The little star just keeps finding new work.

Want to copy the asterisk or browse other useful punctuation and symbols? See the full symbol collection here →. Every mark, from * to •, arrows and more, ready to copy and paste anywhere you type.

How to say it right

A quick side note: a lot of people mispronounce “asterisk.” It’s AS-tuh-risk, not “asterix” or “asterick.” The S comes before the K. Once you notice the mistake, you’ll hear it everywhere.

What the asterisk shows us about symbols

The asterisk is a great example of a symbol that grows by finding new jobs in new places. It started as a margin mark for one Greek scholar. Then it became a footnote sign. Then a censorship tool. Then a chat feature.

Some symbols do just one thing. The bullet point only marks list items, and the curved arrow only shows a return or repeat action. Each has a single clear job.

The asterisk is different. It’s more like the infinity symbol, which started in math but grew to stand for love and eternity. Both are symbols that kept gathering new meanings as the world changed around them.

And like the purple heart emoji, which can mean very different things in different conversations, the asterisk’s meaning depends entirely on context. In a book, it’s a footnote. In a chat, it’s bold text. Same star, different job.

3 things people get wrong about the asterisk

1. That it’s just for footnotes

Footnotes are the classic use, but the asterisk does at least eight different jobs in modern life. It’s one of the most versatile symbols there is.

2. That it’s a modern invention

The asterisk is over 2,300 years old. It was invented by a Greek scholar around 200 BC. The censorship and chat uses are new, but the symbol itself is ancient.

3. That censoring with asterisks actually hides words

Everyone knows what d**n or f**k says. The asterisks don’t really hide the word. They just soften it enough to get past content filters or keep things a little more polite. The reader fills in the blanks instantly.

Wrapping up

The asterisk * is a tiny star with a huge list of jobs. It was born over 2,300 years ago as a margin mark in Homer’s poems. Since then it has become a footnote sign, a censorship tool, a bold button in chats, a typo fixer, a multiplication sign, a computer wildcard, a disputed-record marker in sports and the star key on your phone.

Its name means “little star” in Greek. Its shape has barely changed in two thousand years. Yet it keeps finding new things to do in every century, from ancient scrolls to internet comments.

Not bad for a little star that started by marking mistakes in Homer.