Section sign
Also called §, silcrow, double S
Medieval legal abbreviation; standard in print
Modern symbolsSection sign meaning
The section sign § means “section,” especially in laws, contracts, and citations. It is traditionally explained as a double S, for signum sectionis, “the sign of a section.” When someone asks what § means in a document, the answer is a numbered part of the text, not a secret society.
The mark that means “section,” built like two S letters.
Where it comes from
Scribes abbreviate. A section mark lets a lawyer point at a clause without writing the word. The doubled-S explanation is the usual one in histories of punctuation and is visibly plausible. The pilcrow ¶ marks a paragraph and is a different sign, from a C for capitulum. Style guides now use § in pairs (§§) for “sections.” It is furniture for documents that have parts.
Modern
A pointer, not a glyph of power
In a statute, § 12 is the twelfth section. That is the whole magic. The sign’s age makes it look occult on a screen full of newer characters. Age is not occultism. The peace sign has an author. This one has a job.
Near this
Sources
- History of the section sign as a double-S abbreviation for signum sectionis
Named when the entry depends on a text, a date, or a standard. Catalog numbers are not invented.
Your margin
Private. It stays in this browser and never joins the canon.
symbol.wiki, edited as Sigilla. Last reviewed 2 October 2026. A reading of public tradition, not a ruling.