Tilde

ASCII Code: 126•Category: symbols

The tilde (~) represents approximation in mathematics, home directory in Unix systems, and serves as a diacritical mark in Spanish and Portuguese, making it essential for scientific notation, system administration, and authentic multilingual communication.

Technical Details

ASCII Code: 126
HTML Entity: ~
Hexadecimal: 0x7E
Binary: 01111110
Octal: 176

Usage & Examples

Programming

char symbol = '~'; // ASCII 126

HTML/Web

~ or ~

Common Uses

tildeswungapproximationhomedirectoryspanishdiacriticmathematicalprogramming

How to Type This Character

Windows

Alt Code:

Hold Alt and type126 on numeric keypad

Character Map:

Search "Character Map" in Start menu

Mac

Character Viewer:

Press Ctrl +Cmd +Space

Copy & Paste:

Easiest method - copy from this page!

💡 Pro tip: The fastest way is to bookmark this page or copy the character from our ASCII library!

Related Characters

About the Tilde

Approximation Symbol

Universal mathematical symbol for 'approximately equal to' in scientific calculations, statistical analysis, and engineering contexts. Essential for expressing measurements, estimates, and computational results where exact precision is neither possible nor necessary.

Unix Home Directory

Standard notation for user home directories in Unix, Linux, and macOS systems (~/, ~/Documents). Fundamental to command-line operations, shell scripting, and system administration across millions of servers and development environments worldwide.

Spanish Portuguese Diacritic

Critical for proper spelling and pronunciation in Spanish (niño, mañana) and Portuguese (São Paulo, coração). Essential for authentic communication with 500+ million Spanish and Portuguese speakers globally.

Programming Operations

Used for bitwise NOT operations, destructuring assignment, and various language-specific functions. Important in programming contexts for logical operations and modern syntax patterns.

History of the Tilde

Medieval Period

Spanish Scribal Development

Medieval Spanish scribes developed the tilde to mark the ñ sound, distinguishing it from regular 'n' and preserving the unique phonetic character that became integral to Spanish identity.

1500s

Portuguese Adoption

Portuguese writers adopted tilde usage for nasal vowels (ã, õ), creating the distinctive orthographic features that characterize Portuguese across Brazil, Portugal, and former colonies.

1800s

Mathematical Notation

Mathematicians standardized the tilde for approximation relationships, establishing its role in scientific notation, statistical analysis, and mathematical communication worldwide.

1970s

Unix File Systems

Unix developers adopted the tilde as shorthand for user home directories, creating the file system convention that became standard across all Unix-like operating systems.

1990s-Present

Global Computing

International computer systems integrated tilde support for both mathematical notation and multilingual text processing, enabling authentic Spanish/Portuguese communication in digital environments.

Cultural Impact

The tilde became a symbol of cultural authenticity and mathematical precision, enabling both linguistic diversity in global communication and scientific accuracy in computational systems.

Usage Examples

Mathematical Approximation

Example

π ~ 3.14159, population ~ 50,000, temperature ~ 25°C

Scientific notation for approximate values and estimates

Unix File Paths

Example

cd ~/, ~/Documents/projects, ls ~/Downloads

Home directory navigation in command-line systems

Spanish Language

Example

niño (child), mañana (tomorrow), español (Spanish), señor (sir)

Essential Spanish words requiring tilde for proper pronunciation

Portuguese Language

Example

São Paulo (Saint Paul), coração (heart), não (no), então (so/then)

Portuguese words using tilde for nasal vowel sounds