U+2985 · Opening punctuation
HTML entity
⦅
LaTeX
\lParen
Left White Parenthesis Symbol ⦅
⦅ is left white parenthesis. Write it in HTML as ⦅ or paste the character directly. It was added in Unicode 3.2, and Unicode files it under Opening punctuation.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+2985 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ⦅ | |
| HTML decimal | ⦅ | |
| CSS | \2985 | |
| JavaScript | \u{2985} | |
| Python | \U00002985 | |
| Java / C# | \u2985 | |
| Rust | \u{2985} | |
| Swift | \u{2985} | |
| PHP | \u{2985} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%A6%85 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 A6 85 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 2985 | |
| Base64 | 4qaF | |
| Decimal | 10629 | |
| HTML entity | ⦅ | |
| LaTeX | \lParen | |
| Category | Opening punctuation (Ps) | |
| Introduced | Unicode 3.2 | |
Will ⦅ survive being pasted?
- Normalisation. Yes. ⦅ is unchanged by NFKC, so it survives normalising systems intact.
- Legacy encodings. ⦅ is Unicode-only — it has no Latin-1 equivalent, so a system stuck on an 8-bit encoding cannot represent it.
- Size. 3 bytes in UTF-8. Character-limited fields — SMS, bios, some form validators — usually count bytes, not characters.
Unicode cross-references
The standard points readers of ⦅ at these characters — usually because they look alike, or because one is the correct choice where the other is often used by mistake.
Other parenthesis characters
Unicode names 13 characters ending in “parenthesis”. They differ by direction, weight or decoration rather than by meaning.
Nearby in Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-B
Brackets, fences and operators for advanced notation — the ceiling and floor variants, angle brackets and the many circled and squared operators.
All 128 characters in Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-B →
How to type ⦅
| Windows | Type 2985 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “left white parenthesis” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2985, press Enter |
| HTML | ⦅ |
About Unicode’s Opening punctuation category
This is an opening bracket. Editors that highlight matching pairs, and bidirectional text algorithms, both key off this category rather than off the glyph.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ⦅ left white parenthesis symbol?
- On Windows, type 2985 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2985. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ⦅?
- Left White Parenthesis is U+2985, written in HTML as ⦅ and in LaTeX as \lParen. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ⦅?
- Left White Parenthesis is filed under Opening punctuation in the Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-B block, and was introduced in Unicode 3.2. This is an opening bracket. Editors that highlight matching pairs, and bidirectional text algorithms, both key off this category rather than off the glyph.