How to type Lozenge
To type Lozenge (◊), press Alt + 9674 on Windows, holding Alt while typing the digits on the numeric keypad, or press Option + Shift + V on Mac, or write ◊ in HTML. On any system you can copy it from this page, or enter its codepoint U+25CA directly: Ctrl+Shift+U then 25ca on Linux, or 25ca then Alt+X in Microsoft Word.
Lozenge
- Copy it
- Unicode
- U+25CA
- Windows
- Alt + 9674 needs regedit
| Where | Shortcut | How |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Alt + 9674 | Above 255, so Windows will not accept it as typed. Copy the character instead. |
| Mac | Option + Shift + V | Press the keys together. |
| HTML | ◊ | Paste this into HTML source. |
| Unicode | U+25CA | LOZENGE |
Other symbols
◊ lives in the Geometric Shapes block (U+25A0-U+25FF), squares, circles, triangles and diamonds. Within Unicode it is classified as So, a symbol.
What Lozenge is used for
In mathematical notation ◊ is an ordinary symbol: it carries no special spacing and sits in an expression the way a letter does, standing for a thing rather than doing something to the things around it. That is the classification unicode-math gives it, and it is what decides how the symbol is set: $\mdlgwhtlozenge$ in LaTeX, in maths mode rather than in a sentence.
Unicode publishes a second list of names for ◊ in CLDR, the keywords its own search data offers rather than the formal name, and they are diamond and rhombus. Those words are what somebody looking for this character is liable to type when Lozenge is not the name they know it by, and the search on the symbol lists matches them as well as the Unicode name.
What ◊ gets confused with
Unicode's own confusables table, the one used to catch lookalike domain names, groups ◊ with ⋄ (U+22C4, Diamond Operator), ◇ (U+25C7, White Diamond) and ♢ (U+2662, White Diamond Suit). They are separate characters that render close enough to be mistaken for one another, so a search or a string comparison will separate them where your eye will not. If Lozenge is not matching where you expect it to, one of these is the usual reason.
What Unicode says about Lozenge
The code chart points from ◊ to white diamond suit (U+2662). These are the characters the standard thinks you might have meant instead, which makes them the ones worth checking when Lozenge looks nearly right but not quite.
How Lozenge behaves in software
◊ takes one column in a terminal. It carries no direction of its own, so in a line that mixes English with Arabic or Hebrew it takes the direction of the text around it rather than forcing one.
Every way to write Lozenge
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Codepoint | U+25CA |
| Decimal | 9674 |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 97 8A |
| UTF-16 bytes | 25 CA |
| HTML entity | ◊ |
| HTML numeric | ◊ or ◊ |
| CSS | \25CA |
| JavaScript | \u25CA |
| Python | \u25CA |
| URL-encoded | %E2%97%8A |
| LaTeX, in maths mode | $\mdlgwhtlozenge$ |
| SVG | 25CA.svg · (SIL Open Font License) |
If ◊ arrives as â—Š
Its three UTF-8 bytes E2 97 8A are being read one at a time as Windows-1252. The text is undamaged; the reader has to be told it is UTF-8.