Comparison Symbols Hub 13 Symbols
Comparison Symbols
Explore our complete math symbols list and interactive keyboard to lookup meanings, LaTeX codes, and UTF-8 characters for comparison symbols. Relational operators indicating equality, inequality, strict ordering, approximations, and proportionality.
Comparison Symbols Table & Meanings
| Action | Symbol | Name | Meaning | Example | LaTeX | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| = | Equals Sign | Equality: expressions on both sides have precisely identical mathematical value. | 2 + 2 = 4 | = | U+003D | |
| ≠ | Not Equal To | Inequality: indicates that two expressions have distinct, non-matching values. | 5 ≠ 7 | \neq \text{ or } \ne | U+2260 | |
| < | Less Than | Strict inequality: left value is strictly smaller than right value. | 3 < 8 | < | U+003C | |
| > | Greater Than | Strict inequality: left value is strictly larger than right value. | 10 > 4 | > | U+003E | |
| ≤ | Less Than or Equal To | Non-strict inequality: left value is smaller than or equal to right value. | x ≤ 5 | \le \text{ or } \leq | U+2264 | |
| ≥ | Greater Than or Equal To | Non-strict inequality: left value is greater than or equal to right value. | x ≥ 0 | \ge \text{ or } \geq | U+2265 | |
| ≪ | Much Less Than | Order of magnitude comparison: left value is negligible relative to right value. | v ≪ c (velocity is far less than speed of light) | \ll | U+226A | |
| ≫ | Much Greater Than | Order of magnitude comparison: left value dominates right value. | N ≫ 1 | \gg | U+226B | |
| ≈ | Approximately Equal To | Indicates that two quantities are nearly equal or rounded. | π ≈ 3.14159 | \approx | U+2248 | |
| ≡ | Identical To / Congruence | Identical identity for all variables, or modular arithmetic congruence. | 17 ≡ 5 (mod 12) | \equiv | U+2261 | |
| ≔ | Defined As (Colon Equals) | Defines the quantity on the left as being equal to the formula on the right. | f(x) ≔ x³ − 2x + 1 | \coloneqq \text{ or } := | U+2254 | |
| ≢ | Not Identical To | Two functions or modular equations are not identically equal. | f(x) ≢ g(x) | \not\equiv | U+2262 | |
| ≉ | Not Almost Equal To | Indicates that two values are not approximately equal. | π ≉ 3.5 | \not\approx | U+2249 |
Comparison Symbols FAQ
What is the difference between strict inequality (<) and non-strict inequality (≤)?
Strict inequality (<) requires the left value to be strictly smaller than the right value (excluding equality). Non-strict inequality (≤, \le) allows the values to be smaller than or equal to one another.
What do the double inequality symbols (≪ and ≫) signify?
≪ (\ll) means 'much less than' (several orders of magnitude smaller). ≫ (\gg) means 'much greater than' (several orders of magnitude larger), frequently used in asymptotic analysis and physics approximations.