!

See also ǃ, ¡, and Ị

Translingual

Bang.svg
Unicode name EXCLAMATION MARK
Codepoint U+0021
   ← Basic Latin → " 

Etymology

May derive from a Latin Io, with the I written over the o, placed at the end of an exclamation to mark it as such. The Io may either be an abbreviation for interiectiō (“interjection”), or else the interjection Iō (“hey!”).[1]

Punctuation mark

!

  1. Denoting excitement, surprise, or shock.
    1. At the end of an exclamatory sentence.
      What a beautiful day!
      • 2007, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Rocco, page 369:
        Seu macaquinho imundo!
        You filthy little monkey!
    2. Replacing a period at the end of a declarative sentence.
      I had no idea!
    3. Following a question mark at the end of an interrogative sentence.
      How is that possible?!
    4. At the end of an interjection that is set off by dashes or parentheses.
      After he finished his drink — his fifth! — he left the room.
    5. In parentheses; see (!).
      After he finished his fifth drink (!), he left the room.
  2. (chess) Indicates a good move.
    • 1983, Claude Santoy, Échecs et maths, Marabout, ISBN 2-501-00341-1, p. 134:
      (Fb4! 10.c3 suivi de De7 eut été plus précis)
      (Bb4! 10.c3 followed by Qe7 would have been more efficient)
  3. (botany) Placed after a herbarium abbreviation to indicate that the mentioned material held there has been examined directly by the author.
    • 2008, June, A Michele Funston, "Taxonomic Revision of Roldana (Asteraceae: Senecioneae), a Genus of the Southwestern U.S.A., Mexico, and Central America", Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 95, Issue 2, p. 307:
      TYPE: Mexico. Nayarit: Tepic, 10 Feb. 1927, Marcus E. Jones 23357 (holotype, POM not seen; isotype, US!).
  4. (computing, in many programming languages) A Boolean negation, the not operator, serving to invert the truth value of what follows.
  5. (computing, e-mail) Formerly used as a separator between hostnames in an e-mail address for the purpose of routing a message (called bang path notation).
  6. (computing, IRC) Used as a separator between a user's nickname and ident.
  7. (mathematics) factorial
    5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1
    "five factorial equals…"

Usage notes

  • Its name is variously exclamation mark, exclamation point or, in computing contexts, shriek, bang or pling.
  • In its use to denote excitement, surprise, or shock, it is sometimes repeated for additional emphasis, as in "!!", "!!!", "??!!!", or the like.

Derived terms

  • ¡ (inverted exclamation mark/point)
  • !! (double exclamation mark/point)
  • !? (exclamation and questioning)
  • ‽ (interrobang)
  • ⁈
  • ⁉
  • ﹗ (small exclamation mark/point)
  • ❢ (dingbat)
  • ❣ (dingbat)
  • ！ (fullwidth)

Related terms

Punctuation

Translations

chess
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
  • Armenian: ՜
  • Limbu: ᥄

References

  1. ^ Alexander Humez, 1987, A B C et cetera: the life & times of the Roman alphabet
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German

Punctuation mark

!

  1. Used at the end of a salutation line of a letter
    Lieber Hans!
    Dear Hans,
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Last modified on 23 January 2013, at 06:17