Circumflex Accent Symbol
The caret (^) is a punctuation symbol (Unicode U+005E) commonly used to indicate emphasis, correction, or exponentiation.
U+005E
The caret (^) is a simple punctuation mark with the Unicode code point U+005E. It appears across keyboards, editors, and programming languages. On this page you can copy it and also see common escape formats for web and development use.
Circumflex Accent Symbol Meaning
The caret (^) is commonly called a “caret” or “circumflex accent” depending on context. In plain text, it may be used to show emphasis or to indicate a “hat” above a character, similar to how a circumflex accent works in some writing systems. In computing, it often appears in search and pattern matching as a special operator, and in many programming/math contexts it’s used for exponentiation (for example, x^2). In some markup or tooling, it can also mark corrections or denote an alignment cue (such as “up” or “above”). Its meaning is context-dependent, but the coding/pattern-matching and exponentiation usage are very common.
Common uses
- •Exponents in math or scientific notation (e.g., x^2)
- •Pattern matching and regular expressions in tools that treat ^ specially (often “start of string”)
- •Plain-text emphasis or annotations, such as adding a marker above a word
- •Keyboard-friendly notation for caret-like indicators in documentation
- •Web development and templates where Unicode punctuation needs to be inserted reliably
Examples
^ Caret symbol and Unicode U+005E
- ^x^2 + 3x + 1
- ^Version ^1.2.0 (as a shorthand notation in some docs)
- ^Tip: set the cursor here ^^ above the target
- ^Find lines that begin with ^root
- ^The value is raised to the power: a^b
Variations
Ready to copy
Technical codes
| Unicode | U+005E | |
| HTML Entity | ^ | |
| HTML Code | ^ | |
| CSS | \005E |
FAQ
What does the Circumflex Accent symbol mean?
The caret (^) is commonly called a “caret” or “circumflex accent” depending on context. In plain text, it may be used to show emphasis or to indicate a “hat” above a character, similar to how a circumflex accent works in some writing systems. In computing, it often appears in search and pattern matching as a special operator, and in many programming/math contexts it’s used for exponentiation (for example, x^2). In some markup or tooling, it can also mark corrections or denote an alignment cue (such as “up” or “above”). Its meaning is context-dependent, but the coding/pattern-matching and exponentiation usage are very common.
What is the Unicode value for the caret (^)?
The caret symbol has Unicode code point U+005E.
How do I copy the caret (^) for use in HTML and text?
You can copy the character directly from here. For HTML, you can also use the entity ^.
What escape formats are available for caret in web development?
CSS escape is \\005E. JavaScript escape is \\u{005E}.
Does ^ always mean exponentiation?
No. Its meaning depends on context—commonly it’s used for exponentiation in math, but in search/regex it can represent a special operator (often the start of a string).