Prime

Unicode
U+2032
Category
Math
HTML Entity
′
CSS
\2032
The prime symbol (′) is a typographical mark primarily used in math, science, and measurement. It commonly represents feet in imperial units, arcminutes in geometry, and the first derivative in calculus. While it looks extremely similar to an apostrophe or single quotation mark, the prime is a distinct, slightly angled character reserved for technical notations rather than standard punctuation.

How to Type

Windows
Alt+8242 or Win+. then search 'prime'
macOS
Control+Command+Space then search 'prime'
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+U then 2032
HTML
′ or ′

In Programming

While rarely used in actual source code syntax (which prefers the standard ASCII single quote for strings and characters), the true prime symbol is heavily used in LaTeX and mathematical documentation to denote derivatives or transformed variables.

Tags

angle notation arcminutes symbol calculus prime coordinate notation derivative feet feet symbol first derivative mark imperial units latitude minutes mathematics measurement superscript minutes prime mark single prime

Related Symbols