Meanings
plural square brackets
- Either of a pair of symbols, [ ], used for various purposes, e.g. to enclose text inserted or replaced by an editor, and to indicate various mathematical operations.
She said that she "believe[s] that everything happens for a reason."
1 more example
We must, in short, employ a special bracket for operative relations ; and the square bracket is the most convenient. Hence [a + bβ] x denotes that a + bβ operates on x, and [φ]ⁿ denotes that φ operates on itself n - 1 times.
1905, Royal Irish Academy, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, page 33
Synonyms & antonyms
nouneither of two punctuation marks (‘[’ or ‘]’) used to enclose textual material
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian сре́дна ско́ба, квадратна скоба
- сре́дна ско́ба (srédna skóba)symbol [ or ]
- квадратна скоба (kvadratna skoba)symbol [ or ]
- структурна скоба (strukturna skoba)symbol [ or ]
Catalan claudàtor, parèntesi quadrat
- claudàtorsymbol [ or ]
- parèntesi quadratsymbol [ or ]
Chinese Mandarin 方括號 /方括号, 中括號 /中括号
- 方括號 /方括号 (fāngkuòhào)symbol [ or ]
- 中括號 /中括号 (zhōngkuòhào)symbol [ or ]
Czech hranatá závorka, závorka
- hranatá závorkasymbol [ or ]
- závorkasymbol [ or ]
Danish skarp parentes
- skarp parentessymbol [ or ]
Dutch vierkant haakje, vierkante haak
- vierkant haakjesymbol [ or ]
- vierkante haaksymbol [ or ]
- blokhaakjesymbol [ or ]
- blokhaaksymbol [ or ]
Esperanto rekta krampo
- rekta kramposymbol [ or ]
Finnish hakasulje, hakasulku
- hakasuljesymbol [ or ]
- hakasulkusymbol [ or ]
French crochet
- crochetsymbol [ or ]
German eckige Klammer
- eckige Klammersymbol [ or ]
Greek αγκύλη
- αγκύλη (agkýli)symbol [ or ]
Hungarian szögletes zárójel
- szögletes zárójelsymbol [ or ]
Irish lúibín cearnach
- lúibín cearnachsymbol [ or ]
Italian parentesi quadra
- parentesi quadrasymbol [ or ]
Japanese 角括弧
- 角括弧 (kakukakko)symbol [ or ]
Malay tanda kurung siku
- tanda kurung sikusymbol [ or ]
Māori taiepa tūtika
- taiepa tūtikasymbol [ or ]
Norwegian Bokmål hakeparentes
- hakeparentessymbol [ or ]
Polish nawias kwadratowy
- nawias kwadratowysymbol [ or ]
Portuguese colchete, parêntese reto
- colchetesymbol [ or ]
- parêntese retosymbol [ or ]
Romanian paranteză pătrată, paranteză dreaptă
- paranteză pătratăsymbol [ or ]
- paranteză dreaptăsymbol [ or ]
Russian квадра́тная ско́бка
- квадра́тная ско́бка (kvadrátnaja skóbka)symbol [ or ]
Scottish Gaelic camag cheàrnach
- camag cheàrnachsymbol [ or ]
Slovak zátvorka, hranatá zátvorka
- zátvorkasymbol [ or ]
- hranatá zátvorkasymbol [ or ]
Spanish corchete
- corchetesymbol [ or ]
Swedish hakparentes
- hakparentessymbol [ or ]
Tagalog panalikop
- panalikopsymbol [ or ]
Turkish köşeli ayraç, köşeli parantez
- köşeli ayraçsymbol [ or ]
- köşeli parantezsymbol [ or ]
Ukrainian квадра́тна ду́жка
- квадра́тна ду́жка (kvadrátna dúžka)symbol [ or ]
Vietnamese dấu ngoặc vuông
- dấu ngoặc vuôngsymbol [ or ]
Welsh bach petryal
- bach petryalsymbol [ or ]
Cite this entry
square bracket. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20bracket
“square bracket.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20bracket. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “square bracket,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/square%20bracket.
Source: square bracket on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.