Meanings
nounpilcrow (plural pilcrows)
plural pilcrows
- The symbol ¶.
- A symbol designating the beginning of a new paragraph.
The pilcrow was a simple punctuation symbol used by medieval scribes to indicate the start and end of a paragraph.
2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 167 - mediaA symbol designating a paragraph break.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαράγραφος
- Late Latinparagraphus
- Middle Englishpylcrafte
- Englishpilcrow
Probably an alteration of Middle English pylcrafte, modification of Late Latin paragraphus, itself from the Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos).
More words from Middle English, Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque paragrafo zeinu
- paragrafo zeinua paragraph mark
Catalan calderó
- calderóa paragraph mark
Danish afsnitstegn
- afsnitstegna paragraph mark
Dutch alineateken
- alineatekena paragraph mark
Finnish kappaleen merkki, kappalemerkki
- kappaleen merkkia paragraph mark
- kappalemerkkia paragraph mark
French pied-de-mouche
- pied-de-mouchea paragraph mark
German Absatzzeichen
- Absatzzeichena paragraph mark
Hungarian bekezdésjel
- bekezdésjela paragraph mark
Italian piede di mosca
- piede di moscaa paragraph mark
Japanese 段落記号
- 段落記号 (danraku kigō)a paragraph mark
Korean 단락 기호
- 단락 기호 (dallak giho)a paragraph mark
Norwegian avsnittstegn
- avsnittstegna paragraph mark
Polish znacznik akapitu
- znacznik akapitua paragraph mark
Portuguese pé de mosca
- pé de moscaa paragraph mark
Russian знак абза́ца
- знак абза́ца (znak abzáca)a paragraph mark
Spanish signo de antígrafo, calderón
- signo de antígrafoa paragraph mark
- calderóna paragraph mark
Swedish alinea
- alineaa paragraph mark
Turkish paragraf işareti
- paragraf işaretia paragraph mark
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pilcrow
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
pilcrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilcrow
MLA
“pilcrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilcrow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pilcrow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilcrow.
Source: pilcrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.