Division Symbol (÷): What "Divided By" Means and How to Type It

The division symbol ÷ (also called the obelus or division sign) means "divided by": 12 ÷ 4 = 3 tells you to split 12 into 4 equal parts, or to count how many 4s fit into 12. The same operation is written with a slash (12/4), a horizontal fraction bar, or a colon in ratios, and you can type ÷ with Alt + 0247 on Windows, Option + / on a Mac, or \div in LaTeX.

This guide explains each way of writing "divided by," where the ÷ sign came from and why many style guides now avoid it, and how to type the dividing symbol on every platform.

Copy and Paste the Division Sign

• ÷ — division sign, the obelus (U+00F7)
• / — solidus or forward slash (U+002F)
• ⁄ — fraction slash, used to build ³⁄₈-style fractions (U+2044)
• ⟌ — long division sign (U+27CC)

The Division Symbol Explained

Division undoes multiplication. In a ÷ b = c, a is the dividend, b is the divisor, and c is the quotient; when the divisor does not fit evenly, what is left over is the remainder, so 17 ÷ 5 = 3 remainder 2. Dividing by zero is undefined, which is why calculators and spreadsheets return an error for it.

Four notations express the operation:

1. The obelus ÷, taught in primary school and printed on calculator keys.
2. The slash /, standard in typing, programming, and spreadsheets: 12/4.
3. The fraction bar, where the dividend sits over the divisor; this is the form used in algebra and in every published paper because it keeps a long numerator and denominator readable.
4. The colon :, which expresses a ratio (2 : 3) and doubles as the division sign in German, Russian, and several other European school traditions.

Where the Obelus Came From

The word obelus is Greek for a pointed rod; ancient editors drew the mark in manuscript margins to flag suspect lines. The Swiss mathematician Johann Rahn was the first to use ÷ for division, in his 1659 textbook Teutsche Algebra, and the 1668 English translation carried it to Britain. Before Rahn the sign meant subtraction, a reading that survived in Norway and Denmark into the twentieth century, where 8 ÷ 3 could mean 5.

Why ÷ Is Discouraged in Formal Writing

The international standard for mathematical notation, ISO 80000-2, lists a/b and the fraction bar as the ways to write a quotient and states that ÷ should not be used. The reasons are practical: the sign looks like a fraction template rather than an operator, it has carried the opposite meaning in some countries, and it is ambiguous in long expressions. The viral puzzle 8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) gets answers of 1 and 16 depending on how a reader groups the terms; written as a fraction, 8/(2(2+2)) or (8/2)(2+2), there is nothing to argue about. Use ÷ in elementary teaching and casual text, and a fraction bar or slash everywhere else.

Uses of the Division Sign and Its Relatives

Arithmetic and Fractions

Any fraction is a division waiting to happen: 3/4 means 3 ÷ 4 = 0.75. Dividing by a fraction means multiplying by its reciprocal, so (a/b) ÷ (c/d) = ad/bc. Unit rates such as km/h use the slash to say "per."

Ratios and Proportions

A colon between two quantities compares them without computing the quotient: a map scale of 1 : 50 000 or a 3 : 2 aspect ratio. Unicode has a dedicated ratio character ∶ (U+2236), though ordinary colons are used almost everywhere in practice.

Long Division

The bracket drawn over the dividend in schoolwork has its own character, ⟌ (U+27CC), but plain-text renderings such as 4 ⟌ 12 rarely line up, so worked problems are usually typeset with a dedicated package (see the LaTeX section).

Programming

Keyboards have no ÷ key, so every mainstream language uses the slash:

• / is division in C, Java, JavaScript, and Python 3; in C and Java, dividing two integers truncates, so 7 / 2 is 3.
• // is floor division in Python (7 // 2 is 3), and % is the remainder operator (17 % 5 is 2).
• Julia and APL accept the Unicode ÷ itself; in Julia 7 ÷ 2 is integer division and gives 3.
• Spreadsheets use / in formulas (=A1/B1), with QUOTIENT() and MOD() for the integer part and remainder.

How to Type the Division Symbol

Windows: Hold Alt and type 0247 on the numeric keypad. The three-digit code Alt + 246 produces the same ÷ because the sign happens to sit at the same spot in the old IBM code page 437, which makes it one of the rare symbols where both codes agree. The multiplication sign is Alt + 0215, two places away. In Word, type 00F7 and press Alt + X, or insert it from the Symbol dialog under Latin-1 Supplement.

Mac: Press Option + / on any English layout. Option + Shift + / gives ¿ instead, so hold only Option. The Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) finds it under "division" if you prefer to search.

iPhone and Android: On the iOS numeric keyboard, press and hold the / key and slide to ÷ in the pop-up. Gboard on Android offers ÷ on a long-press of / as well, and lists it directly on its second symbols page.

Division in LaTeX

\div prints ÷ as a binary operator with the correct spacing, and a plain / works for inline quotients such as $a/b$. For anything larger than a one-line expression, \frac{numerator}{denominator} draws a horizontal bar and belongs in display math; \dfrac forces that full-size version inline and \tfrac forces the compact inline size in a display. Diagonal fractions for text come from \nicefrac{3}{4} (nicefrac package) or the better-kerned \sfrac{3}{4} (xfrac package). The polynom package typesets complete long-division workings with \polylongdiv, and \bmod handles remainders.

1\documentclass{article}
2\usepackage{amsmath}
3\usepackage{nicefrac}
4\usepackage{xfrac}
5\usepackage{polynom}
6\begin{document}
7Inline: $12 \div 4 = 3$, $a / b$, $\nicefrac{3}{4}$, and $\sfrac{3}{4}$.
8
9Display:
10\[ \frac{x^2 - 1}{x - 1} = x + 1, \qquad
11   \frac{a}{b} \div \frac{c}{d} = \frac{a}{b} \cdot \frac{d}{c} = \frac{ad}{bc} \]
12
13Ratios and the integer operators: $a : b = 2 : 3$, \quad $17 \bmod 5 = 2$.
14
15Polynomial long division:
16\[ \polylongdiv{x^3 - 2x^2 + x - 1}{x - 1} \]
17\end{document}
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\div is a math-mode command, so in running text wrap it as $\div$. \frac is defined by the LaTeX kernel, but amsmath is still needed for \dfrac, \tfrac, and \cfrac.

Related Symbols

What Is the Division Symbol Called?

The ÷ sign is called the obelus, from the Greek word for a sharpened stick; in everyday speech it is simply the division sign. The slash is a solidus or virgule, and the horizontal line in a fraction is the fraction bar or vinculum.

Is ÷ the Same as /?

Yes for simple arithmetic: 12 ÷ 4 and 12/4 are both 3. The difference is convention and clarity. Keyboards, programming languages, and spreadsheets only understand the slash, formal mathematics prefers a fraction bar, and ÷ is mostly confined to primary-school textbooks and calculator keys. The ISO 80000-2 standard explicitly recommends against ÷.

How Do I Type the Divided-By Sign on a Keyboard?

On Windows, hold Alt and type 0247 on the numeric keypad. On a Mac, press Option + /. In Word on either system you can type 00F7 and press Alt + X. On a phone, long-press the / key. In HTML, write ÷, and in LaTeX write \div in math mode.

Why Does 8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) Have Two Answers?

Because the obelus does not say how far to the right its divisor extends. Reading strictly left to right with implied multiplication treated like ordinary multiplication gives (8 ÷ 2) × 4 = 16; treating 2(2 + 2) as a single grouped factor gives 8 ÷ 8 = 1. Neither reading is "wrong," which is exactly why professional writing uses a fraction bar or extra parentheses instead.

Writing Division Cleanly in Your Documents

Use \div only when you are deliberately showing the schoolbook sign, / for short inline quotients, and \frac{}{} whenever the numerator or denominator has more than a couple of characters. Octree, the AI LaTeX editor at useoctree.com, suggests the right form as you type and compiles the result instantly, so a tangled slash expression becomes a clean fraction before it reaches your reviewers. For the full list of operator symbols with their codes and commands, see https://tools.useoctree.com/symbols/operators.