⋘
Math Operator 213
- Unicode
- U+22D8
- Category
- Math
- HTML Entity
- ⋘
- CSS
- \22D8
The ⋘ symbol, formally known as "Very Much Less Than" in Unicode, is a mathematical operator consisting of three consecutive "less than" signs. It is primarily used in mathematics, physics, and engineering to indicate that one value is orders of magnitude smaller than another, often justifying the omission of the smaller value in complex approximations. While rarely used in casual messaging, it occasionally appears in technical documentation or as a stylized, heavy left-pointing arrow in creative digital typography.
How to Type
- Windows
- Alt+8920 or Win+. then search
- macOS
- Control+Command+Space then search
- Linux
- Ctrl+Shift+U then 22d8
- HTML
- ⋘ or ⋘
In Programming
In LaTeX, this symbol is generated using the `\lll` or `\llless` commands provided by the `amssymb` package. It is frequently used in asymptotic analysis, algorithm complexity notation, or physics formulas to represent extreme differences in scale.
Tags
comparison
engineering notation
magnitude
magnitude comparison
mathematics
much less symbol
much smaller than
orders of magnitude
physics approximation
triple
triple chevron left
triple less than
very much less than