Asterism (typography)

In typography, an asterism, ⁂, is a typographic symbol consisting of three asterisks placed in a triangle, which is used for a variety of purposes. The name originates from the astronomical term for a group of stars.

The asterism was originally used as a type of dinkus in typography, though increasingly rarely. It can also be used to mean "untitled" or author or title withheld – as seen, for example, in some editions of Album for the Young by composer Robert Schumann (№ 21, 26, and 30). In meteorology, an asterism in a station model indicates moderate snowfall.

Dinkus


A dinkus is a typographical device to divide text, such as at section breaks. Its purpose is to "indicate minor breaks in text", to call attention to a passage, or to separate sub-chapters in a book. An asterism used this way is thus a type of dinkus: nowadays this usage of the symbol is nearly obsolete. More commonly used dinkuses are three dots or three asterisks in a horizontal row. A small black and white drawing or a fleuron ( ❧ ) may be used for the same purpose. Otherwise, an extra space between paragraphs is used. A dinkus may be used in conjunction with the extra space to mark a smaller subdivision than a sub-chapter.