Where the middle dot is used
- Separators in design: “Home · Pricing · Blog” in navigation bars and footers, or bylines like “Jan 5 · 4 min read.” It is lighter than a vertical bar.
- Syllable breaks in dictionaries: some dictionaries divide headwords as dic·tion·ar·y.
- Catalan spelling: the ela geminada (l·l) separates a doubled l, as in col·legi and paral·lel.
- Ancient inscriptions: Latin inscriptions used a raised dot between words, which is where the name interpunct comes from.
- Chemistry: hydrates are often written with a centered dot, as in CuSO₄·5H₂O.
When you use it as a separator, put a space on each side. Without spaces the dot glues the words together visually and reads like a single term.
Middle dot vs. bullet vs. dot operator
Several dots look alike but mean different things:
| Character | Name | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| · | middle dot | separators, Catalan, dictionaries |
| • | bullet | list items; larger and heavier |
| ⋅ | dot operator | multiplication in math: a ⋅ b |
| ∙ | bullet operator | math and logic notation |
| ・ | katakana middle dot | separating words in Japanese |
For math, the dot operator ⋅ is the right choice because it is encoded as a math symbol. For a bulleted list, use real list formatting or •; the middle dot is too small to work as a list marker at body-text size.
Middle dot in LaTeX and on the web
- LaTeX: in math mode,
\cdotgives the dot operator ⋅. For the text middle dot, use\textperiodcentered. - HTML: a footer such as “© 2026 · Privacy · Terms” is a common pattern. Add a nonbreaking space before the dot if you don’t want a line to start with it.
- Mac Character Viewer: press Control+Command+Space and search “middle dot” to see all the variants side by side.
- Windows: press Windows key + period, open the Symbols tab and look in the punctuation set.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type a middle dot on a Mac?
Press Option+Shift+9 on a US keyboard.
How do I type a middle dot on Windows?
Hold Alt and type 0183 on the numeric keypad, or copy it from this page.
Is the middle dot the same as a bullet point?
No. The bullet (•) is larger and marks list items. The middle dot (·) is smaller and sits between words or items on one line.
What is an interpunct?
Another name for the middle dot, from its original use as a word divider in Latin inscriptions.
Unicode data: Unicode Character Database 18.0.0 (unicode.org).