Check mark

✓
	Check mark

A check mark, checkmark or tick is a mark (✓, ✔, etc.) used (primarily in the English speaking world) to indicate the concept "yes" (e.g. "yes; this has been verified", "yes; that is the correct answer", "yes; this has been completed", or "yes; this [item or option] applies to me"). The x mark is also sometimes used for this purpose (most notably on election ballot papers, e.g. in the United Kingdom), but otherwise usually indicates "no", incorrectness, or failure.

As a verb, to check (off) or tick (off), means to add such a mark. Printed forms, printed documents, and computer software (see checkbox), commonly include squares in which to place check marks.

International differences

The check mark is a predominant affirmative symbol of convenience in the English-speaking world because of its instant and facile composition. In other countries, however, the mark is more complicated.

It is common in Swedish schools for a ✓ to indicate that an answer is incorrect, while "R", from the Swedish rätt, i.e., "correct", is used to indicate that an answer is correct. In the Canadian province of Quebec, it is also common for schools to use ✓ to indicate an incorrect answer. A stylistic "B", from the French Bien or Born (i.e. "good") is used to indicate a correct answer.

In Finnish, ✓ stands for väärin, i.e., "wrong", due to its similarity to a slanted v. The opposite, "right", is marked with $\cdot \!/\!\cdot$ , a slanted vertical line emphasized with two dots.

In Japan and Korea, the O mark (marujirushi) is used instead of the check mark, and the X mark is commonly used for wrong.

In the Netherlands a 'V' is used to show that things are missing while the Flourish of approval is used for approving a section or sum.

Unicode

The "Symbol, Other" category of Unicode provides various check marks:

U+237B ⍻ NOT CHECK MARK
U+2611 ☑ BALLOT BOX WITH CHECK
U+2705 ✅ GREEN HEAVY CHECK MARK
U+2713 ✓ CHECK MARK
U+2714 ✔ HEAVY CHECK MARK
U+1F5F8 🗸 LIGHT CHECK MARK
U+1F5F9 🗹 BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD CHECK

History

The check mark is believed to have been created during the Roman Empire. "V" was used to shorten the word "veritas", meaning 'truth'. This was used to indicate yes, true, or confirmed on items in a list. Over time, the design of the mark started to change. As people started writing more quickly, the right side became elongated.

References

External links

Checkmark at Fileformat.info

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