View source for Bullet (typography)


{{Short description|Typographical symbol or glyph (•)}}
{{redirect|Bullet points|the [[Marvel Comics]] series|Bullet Points (comics)|the 2011 ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' episode|Bullet Points (Breaking Bad)}}
{{hatnote|{{char|◦}} redirects here. For similar symbols, see [[Circle symbol (disambiguation)]].}}
{{distinguish|text=[[interpunct]] {{char|&middot;}}}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox symbol
 |mark=•
 |name=Bullet
 |unicode={{unichar|2022|bullet|html=}}
| see also=[[#In Unicode|other types of bullet symbols]], listed below
 |different from={{unichar|00B7|MIDDLE DOT|nlink=}}<br/>{{unichar|2219|bullet operator|nlink=Bullet (typography)#Bullet operator}}
}}

In [[typography]], a '''bullet''' or '''bullet point''', {{char|•}}, is a typographical symbol or [[glyph]] used to introduce items in a [[wiktionary:list|list]]. For example:
* Monica
* Erica
* Rita
* Tina
* Sandra
* Mary
* Jessica

The bullet symbol may take any of a variety of shapes, such as circular, square, diamond or arrow. Typical [[word processor]] software offers a wide selection of shapes and colors. Several regular symbols, such as {{char|*}} ([[asterisk]]), {{char|-}} ([[hyphen]]), {{char|.}} ([[Full stop|period]]), and even {{char|o}} (lowercase Latin letter [[O]]), are conventionally used in [[ASCII-only text]] or other environments where bullet characters are not available. Historically, the [[Index (typography)|index symbol]] {{char|☞}} (representing a hand with a pointing index finger) was popular for similar uses.

Lists made with bullets are called '''bulleted lists'''. The [[HTML element]] name for a bulleted list is "[[unordered list]]", because the list items are not arranged in numerical order (as they would be in a [[numbered list]]).

== "Bullet points"<span class="anchor" id="Bullet points"></span> ==
Items&mdash;known as "bullet points"&mdash;may be short phrases, single sentences, or of [[paragraph]] length.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.contentandcommas.com/bullet-points/|title=Bullet Points: What, Why, and How to Use Then|work=Content and Commas |date=15 January 2022}}</ref> Bulleted items are not usually terminated with a [[full stop]] unless they are complete sentences. In some cases, however, the [[style guide]] for a given publication may call for every item except the last one in each bulleted list to be terminated with a [[semicolon]], and the last item with a full stop. It is correct to terminate any bullet point with a full stop if the text within that item consists of one full sentence or more. Bullet points are usually used to highlight list elements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Using Bullet Points |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/how-to-use-bullet-points |website=merriam-webster.com |publisher=Merriam Webster |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>

==History==
The 1950 ''New York News''<!-- Please don't wlink because the article [[New York News]] is a TV series --> Type Book is credited as the first style guide to include a defined use for bullets. The Type Book described it as a typographic device to be used as an "Accessory" alongside asterisks, checks, and other marks available to people making advertisements for the ''News''. The book "neither discusses the function of bullets in advertisements nor distinguishes them from any of the other items in the 'accessories' category", but can be seen to use them as a form of [[dinkus]] in an advertising panel.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Neeley |first1=Kathryn |last2=Alley |first2=Michael |date=June 2011 |title=The Humble History of the "Bullet" |url=http://peer.asee.org/18810 |conference=2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition |location=Vancouver, BC |publisher= |pages=22–1462.1–22.1462.14 |doi=10.18260/1-2--18810 |access-date=2025-01-02}}</ref>

=== Modern use===
'''Example:'''  
"Bullets are often used in technical writing, reference works, notes, and presentations".<!-- This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of uses. It uses just four random examples to illustrate the point, please do not add any more. --> This statement may be presented using bullets or other techniques.

Bullets are often used in:

* Technical writing
* Reference works
* Notes
* Presentations 

Alternatives to bulleted lists are [[numbered list]]s and [[outline (list)|outline]]s (lettered lists, hierarchical lists). They are used where either the order is important or to label the items for later referencing.

==Other uses==
The bullet glyph is sometimes used as a way to hide passwords or confidential information in a practice known as password masking.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hu |first1=Yuqi |last2=Alroomi |first2=Suood |last3=Sahin |first3=Sena |last4=Li |first4=Frank |chapter=Unmasking the Security and Usability of Password Masking |title=Proceedings of the 2024 on ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security |date=9 December 2024 |pages=4241–4255 |doi=10.1145/3658644.3690333 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3658644.3690333 |access-date=19 May 2025 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|isbn=979-8-4007-0636-3 }}</ref> For example, the credit card number {{code|1234 5678 9876 4321}} might be displayed as {{code|•••• •••• •••• 4321}}.

==Bullet operator==
<span class="anchor" id="Bullet operator"></span>A variant, the '''bullet operator''' ({{unichar|2219}}) has a unicode code-point but its purpose does not appear to be documented.{{efn|Many sources suggest that it means [[logical conjunction]].  In fact, the symbol <math>\land</math> is the conventional one for this function. All the sources appear to derive from an earlier version of this Wikipedia page, where that assertion was made without adequate evidence. }} The glyph was transposed into Unicode from the original [[IBM PC]] character set, [[Code page 437]], where it had the code-point F9<sub>16</sub> (249<sub>10</sub>).<ref name="Unicode_1996_437">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/MICSFT/PC/CP437.TXT |title=cp437_DOSLatinUS to Unicode table |format=TXT |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |author-first=Shawn |author-last=Steele<!-- Microsoft --> |version=2.00 |date=1996-04-24 |access-date=2011-11-14}}</ref>

== Computer usage ==
There have been different ways to encode bullet points in computer systems.

=== In historical systems ===
Glyphs such as {{char|•}}, {{char|◦}} and their reversed variants {{char|◘}}, {{char|◙}} became available in [[text mode]] since early [[IBM PC]]s with MDA–CGA–EGA [[graphic adapter]]s, because built-in [[VGA-compatible text mode#Fonts|screen fonts]] contained such forms at code points 7–10. These were not true [[character (computing)|characters]] because such points belong to the [[C0 control codes]] range; therefore, these glyphs required a special way to be placed on the screen (see [[code page 437]] for discussion).

Prior to the widespread use of word processors, bullets were often denoted by an asterisk; several word processors automatically convert asterisks to bullets if used at the start of line. This notation was inherited by [[Setext]] and [[wiki]] engines.

=== In Unicode ===
There are a variety of [[Unicode]] bullet characters, including:

* {{unichar|2022|bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|2023|triangular bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|2043|hyphen bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|204C|black leftwards bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|204D|black rightwards bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|2219|bullet operator|html=}} for use in mathematical notation primarily as a [[dot product]] instead of [[interpunct]].
* {{unichar|25CB|white circle|html=}}
* {{unichar|25CF|black circle|html=}}
* {{unichar|25D8|inverse bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|25E6|white bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|2619|reversed rotated floral heart bullet|html=}}; see [[Fleuron (typography)]]
* {{unichar|2765|rotated heavy black heart bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|2767|rotated floral heart bullet|html=}}; see [[Fleuron (typography)]]
* {{unichar|29BE|circled white bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|29BF|circled bullet|html=}}
* {{unichar|25C9|fisheye|html=,}} used in Japan as a bullet, and called ''tainome''

=== In web pages ===
To create bulleted list items for a web page, the markup language [[HTML]] provides the list tag {{tag|li|o}}. The browser will display one bulleted list item for each item in an [[HTML element#Lists|unordered list]].

=== In Windows ===
When using the US keyboard, a bullet point character can be produced by pressing 7 on the [[Numeric keypad|numpad]] while keeping Alt pressed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alt Codes for Bullet Point Symbols (◘ • ⦿) |url=https://altcodeunicode.com/alt-codes-bullet-point-symbols/ |website=Alt Code Unicode |date=20 November 2018 |access-date=19 May 2025}}</ref>

=== In MacOS ===
When using the US keyboard, a bullet point character can be produced by pressing 8 while keeping Option(Alt) pressed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bullet Point Alt Code: How to type (•) on any keyboard |url=https://howtotypeanything.com/bullet-point/ |website=How to Type Anything |date=5 March 2020 |access-date=19 May 2025}}</ref>

=== In LaTeX ===
To create bulleted list items for a document, the markup language [[LaTeX]] provides the item tag <code><nowiki>\item </nowiki></code>.  Each item tag inside an itemized list will generate one bulleted list item.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/List_Structures |title=LaTeX - List Structures |work=Wikibooks |access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref>

=== Wiki markup ===
A list item on a wiki page is indicated using one or more leading asterisks in [[wiki markup]] as well as in many other [[wiki]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting |title=Help:Formatting |author=MediaWiki |access-date=23 February 2018|author-link=MediaWiki }}</ref>

=== Other uses in computing ===
The bullet is often used for separating menu items, usually in the footer menu. It is common, for example, to see it in website designs and in many [[WordPress]] themes. It is also used by text editors, like [[Microsoft Word]], to create lists.

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Clair |first=Kate |date=1999 |title=A Typographic Workbook: A Primer to History, Techniques, and Artistry |url= https://archive.org/details/typographicworkb0000clai/mode/2up |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780471292371 |oclc=40881446 |access-date=28 October 2023}} Access to most interior pages is via search.

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Bullets (typography)}}

{{navbox punctuation}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet (Typography)}}
[[Category:Punctuation]]
[[Category:Typographical symbols]]