dagger

Marks footnotes or indicates special annotations in academic writing and mathematical texts.

Overview

Serves as a reference mark in academic documents, particularly for footnotes, endnotes, and special annotations when multiple markers are needed on a single page.

Often used as a secondary footnote symbol when asterisks (*) are already in use
Common in mathematical proofs to denote specific conditions or to mark special cases
Appears in linguistics to indicate obsolete or archaic forms
Frequently employed in scientific literature to indicate death dates or deceased individuals

Examples

Marking a footnote reference in mathematical text.

Let x^{\dagger} denote the complex conjugate transpose

Let x^{\dagger} denote the complex conjugate transpose

Indicating a special condition or case in an equation.

f(x) = x^2 \quad (x \geq 0)^\dagger

f(x) = x^2 \quad (x \geq 0)^\dagger

Denoting the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse of a matrix.

AA^\dagger A = A

AA^\dagger A = A