Standard Lemma guide

pilcrow

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɪl.kɹəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: pĭl′-krō
  • US: /ˈpɪl.kɹoʊ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -əʊ

1

noun

Meaning 1

The symbol ¶.

A symbol designating the beginning of a new paragraph.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The symbol ¶.

A symbol designating a paragraph break.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: media, publishing, typography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Probably an alteration of Middle English pylcrafte, modification of Late Latin paragraphus, itself from the Ancient Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: paragrafo zeinu — a paragraph mark
  • Catalan: calderó — a paragraph mark
  • Danish: afsnitstegn — a paragraph mark
  • Dutch: alineateken — a paragraph mark
  • Finnish: kappaleen merkki — a paragraph mark
  • Finnish: kappalemerkki — a paragraph mark
  • French: pied-de-mouche — a paragraph mark
  • Galician: antígrafo — a paragraph mark
  • German: Absatzzeichen — a paragraph mark
  • Hungarian: bekezdésjel — a paragraph mark
  • Italian: piede di mosca — a paragraph mark
  • Japanese: 段落記号 (danraku kigō) — a paragraph mark
  • Korean: 단락 기호 (dallak giho) — a paragraph mark
  • Middle English: paraf — a paragraph mark
  • Norwegian: avsnittstegn — a paragraph mark
  • Polish: znacznik akapitu — a paragraph mark
  • Portuguese: pé de mosca — a paragraph mark
  • Russian: пункт знак (punkt znak) — a paragraph mark
  • Spanish: signo de antígrafo — a paragraph mark
  • Spanish: calderón — a paragraph mark
  • Swedish: alinea — a paragraph mark
  • Turkish: paragraf işareti — a paragraph mark