An X mark (also known as an ex mark or a cross mark or simply an X or ex or a cross) is used to indicate the concept of negation (for example "no, this has not been verified", "no, that is not the correct answer" or "no, I do not agree") as well as an indicator (for example, in election

ballot papers A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

or in maps as an x-marks-the-spot). Its opposite is often considered to be the check mark or tick (or the O mark used in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

). In Japanese, the X mark (❌) is called "batsu" (ばつ) and can be expressed by someone by crossing their arms. It is also used as a replacement for a

signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

for a person who is blind or illiterate and thus cannot write their name. Typically, the writing of an X used for this purpose must be witnessed to be valid. As a verb, to X (or ex) off/out or to cross off/out means to add such a mark. It is quite common, especially on printed forms and document, for there to be squares in which to place x marks, or interchangeably checks. It is also traditionally used on maps to indicate locations, most famously on treasure maps. It is also used as a set of three to mark jugs of moonshine for having completed all distillation steps, while additionally signifying its potency (as high as 150 proof) relative to legal spirits, which rarely exceed 80 proof (40% ABV).

Unicode

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...

provides various related symbols, including: The mark is generally rendered with a less symmetrical form than the following cross-shaped symbols:

Footnotes

{{reflist Cross symbols Mathematical symbols Typographical symbols it:Segno di spunta

Unicode

See also

Footnotes