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Check mark

{{short description|Symbol often denoting 'yes' or 'correct'}}

{{redirect|Tick mark|markings on a graduated scale|Graduation (scale)}}

{{redirect|✓|the similar symbol √|Radical symbol}}

{{for|the diacritic "ˇ"|Caron}}

{{Infobox symbol

|mark=✓

|unicode={{unichar|2713|CHECK MARK|html=}}

|different from={{unichar|221A}}
{{unichar|23B7}}

}}

{{Missing information|the history of the check mark|date=November 2024}}

The check or check mark (American English), checkmark (Philippine English), tickmark (Indian English) or tick (Australian, New Zealand and British English){{Cite web |title=Tick {{!}} English Meaning |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tick |access-date=5 January 2025 |website=Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus}} is a mark (✓, ✔, etc.) used in many countries, including the English-speaking world, to indicate the concept "yes" (e.g. "yes; this has been verified", "yes; that is the correct answer", "yes; this has been completed", or "yes; this [item or option] applies").

The x mark is also sometimes used for this purpose (most notably on election ballot papers, e.g. in the United Kingdom), but otherwise usually indicates "no", incorrectness, or failure. One of the earliest usages of a check mark as an indication of completion is on ancient Babylonian tablets "where small indentations were sometimes made with a stylus, usually placed at the left of a worker's name, presumably to indicate whether the listed ration has been issued."{{Cite book|last=Tenney|first=Jonathan S.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004206892.i-268|title=Life at the Bottom of Babylonian Society|date=2011-07-12|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004206892.i-268|isbn=978-90-04-20704-2}}

As a verb, to check (off) means to add such a mark. Printed forms, printed documents, and computer software (see checkbox) commonly include squares in which to place check marks.

International differences

The check mark is a predominant affirmative symbol of convenience in the English-speaking world because of its instant and simple composition. In other language communities, there may be different conventions.

It is common in Swedish schools for a {{big|✓}} to indicate that an answer is incorrect,{{cite dictionary|url=https://svenska.se/so/?id=05708&pz=7|title=bock|language=sv|dictionary=Svensk ordbok utgiven av Svenska Akademien|publisher=Swedish Academy}}{{cite dictionary|url=https://svenska.se/saol/?id=0299985&pz=7|title=bock|language=sv|dictionary=Svenska Akademiens ordlista|publisher=Swedish Academy}}{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=B_3521-0198.H986|title=bock|language=sv|dictionary=Svenska Akademiens ordbok|publisher=Swedish Academy|volume=5|year=1917}} while "R", from the Swedish {{lang|sv|rätt}}, i.e., "correct", is used to indicate that an answer is correct.

In Finnish, ✓ stands for {{lang|fi|väärin}}, i.e., "wrong", due to its similarity to a slanted v.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} The opposite, "correct", is marked with \cdot \! / \! \cdot, a slanted vertical line emphasized with two dots[https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr28/tr28-3.html#6_1_general_punctuation Version 3.2 of the Unicode Standard, General Punctuation] 2002-03-27 (see also commercial minus sign).

In Japan, the O mark is used instead of the check mark, and the X or ✓ mark are commonly used for wrong.{{Cite web |title=Internationalization |url=https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/i18n.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610112134/https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/i18n.html | archive-date = 10 June 2023 |website=W3.org |publisher=W3C |access-date=2024-11-26 }}

In the Netherlands (and former Dutch colonies) the flourish of approval (or krul) is used for approving a section or sum.

In German-speaking countries, ✓ is used for “correct” or “done”, but not usually for ticking boxes, which are crossed instead. The opposite of ✓ is ƒ (short for falsch “wrong”).

Unicode

Unicode provides various check marks, the one called {{sc|CHECK MARK}} is in the {{tt|U+27xx}} Dingbats block:

  • {{unichar|237B}}
  • {{unichar|2610}}
  • {{unichar|2611}}
  • {{unichar|2705}}
  • {{unichar|2713|html=}}
  • {{unichar|2714}}
  • {{unichar|10102}}
  • {{unichar|1D93F}}
  • {{unichar|1D940}}
  • {{unichar|1D941}}
  • {{unichar|1F5F8}}
  • {{unichar|1F5F9}}
  • {{unichar|1FBB1}}

See also

  • {{Annotated link |Tally marks}}
  • {{Annotated link |Thumbs signal}}
  • {{Annotated link |Unicode input}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Check marks}}

  • [https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/U+2713 Unicode Character U+2713 Check Mark] at Compart.com

{{navbox punctuation}}

Category:Pictograms

Category:Symbols

Category:Typographical symbols