Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
ASCII Characters
2.1.
Common ASCII Entities
2.2.
Example
3.
ISO 8859-1 Characters
3.1.
Common ISO 8859-1 Entities
3.2.
Example
4.
ISO 8859-1 Symbols
4.1.
Common ISO 8859-1 Symbols:
4.2.
Example
5.
Math Symbols
5.1.
Common Math Symbols
5.2.
Example
6.
Greek Letters
6.1.
Common Greek Letter Entities
6.2.
Example
7.
Miscellaneous HTML Entities
7.1.
Common Miscellaneous Entities
7.2.
Example
8.
Frequently Asked Questions
8.1.
What is the purpose of HTML entities?
8.2.
How do I use an HTML entity in my webpage?
8.3.
Are HTML entities case-sensitive?
9.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Feb 9, 2025
Medium

HTML Entities List

Author Gaurav Gandhi
0 upvote
Career growth poll
Do you think IIT Guwahati certified course can help you in your career?

Introduction

HTML entities are special codes used to display reserved characters, symbols, or spaces that cannot be typed directly in HTML. These entities are useful for showing symbols like <, >, &, and non-breaking spaces without causing HTML errors. They help improve content readability and compatibility across different browsers.

HTML Entities List

In this article, we will discuss different categories of HTML entities, including ASCII characters, ISO 8859-1 characters, math symbols, Greek letters, and miscellaneous symbols. 

ASCII Characters

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) characters are the most commonly used characters in computing. These include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and control characters.

Common ASCII Entities

&lt;   <!-- Represents '<' (less than) -->

&gt;   <!-- Represents '>' (greater than) -->

&amp;   <!-- Represents '&' (ampersand) -->

&quot;  <!-- Represents '"' (double quote) -->

&apos;  <!-- Represents "'" (single quote) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>ASCII Entities Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>5 &lt; 10 is a true statement.</p>
    <p>Use &amp; to represent the ampersand symbol.</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

Output

ISO 8859-1 Characters

ISO 8859-1, also known as Latin-1, includes characters used in Western European languages. These characters include special letters with accents and additional punctuation marks.

Common ISO 8859-1 Entities

&copy;  <!-- Copyright symbol (©) -->

&reg;   <!-- Registered trademark (®) -->

&yen;   <!-- Yen currency symbol (¥) -->

&euro;  <!-- Euro currency symbol (€) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>ISO 8859-1 Entities Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>Copyright &copy; 2024 Coding Ninjas.</p>
    <p>Price: 50 &euro;</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

Output

ISO 8859-1 Symbols

ISO 8859-1 also includes symbols commonly used in technical and mathematical expressions.

Common ISO 8859-1 Symbols:

&frac12;   <!-- Represents 1/2 (½) -->

&frac14;   <!-- Represents 1/4 (¼) -->

&times;    <!-- Represents multiplication (×) -->

&divide;   <!-- Represents division (÷) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>ISO 8859-1 Symbols Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>One half is represented as &frac12;.</p>
    <p>5 &times; 3 = 15</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

 

Output

Math Symbols

HTML provides entities for various mathematical symbols used in equations and formulas.

Common Math Symbols

&sum;   <!-- Represents summation (∑) -->

&prod;  <!-- Represents product (∏) -->

&radic; <!-- Represents square root (√) -->

&infin; <!-- Represents infinity (∞) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Math Symbols Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>Summation symbol: &sum;</p>
    <p>Infinity symbol: &infin;</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

Output

Greek Letters

Greek letters are often used in scientific and mathematical contexts. HTML provides entities for both uppercase and lowercase Greek letters.

Common Greek Letter Entities

&alpha;  <!-- Alpha (α) -->

&beta;   <!-- Beta (β) -->

&gamma;  <!-- Gamma (γ) -->

&Delta;  <!-- Uppercase Delta (Δ) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Greek Letters Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>Alpha: &alpha;, Beta: &beta;, Gamma: &gamma;</p>
    <p>Delta: &Delta;</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

Output

Miscellaneous HTML Entities

There are many other special characters that do not fit into the above categories but are still useful in web development.

Common Miscellaneous Entities

&spades;  <!-- Spade symbol (♠) -->

&hearts;  <!-- Heart symbol (♥) -->

&clubs;   <!-- Club symbol (♣) -->

&diams;   <!-- Diamond symbol (♦) -->

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Miscellaneous Entities Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <p>Playing card suits: &spades; &hearts; &clubs; &diams;</p>
</body>
</html>

 

Output:

Output

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of HTML entities?

HTML entities are used to display special characters that might otherwise be interpreted as code, such as < and &, or to insert symbols that are not available on a standard keyboard.

How do I use an HTML entity in my webpage?

You can use HTML entities by including them in your HTML code with an & symbol followed by the entity name or number. For example, &copy; displays ©.

Are HTML entities case-sensitive?

Yes, most HTML entity names are case-sensitive. For example, &Alpha; and &alpha; represent different characters.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned the HTML Entities List, which helps in displaying special characters correctly in web pages. We discussed various commonly used entities for symbols, mathematical operators, and reserved characters. Understanding HTML entities is essential for ensuring proper text rendering and avoiding issues related to character encoding in web development.

Live masterclass