virgil

An anglicization of French virgule, from Latin virgula.

virgil (plural virgils)

1. (typography, Britain, obsolete) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩.
   • 1824, J. Johnson, Typographia:

     There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative... it is a slender stroke leaning forward, betokening a little short rest, without any perfectness yet of sentence.

   • 1828, Richard Thomson, Illustrations of the History of Great Britain, Vol. II, page 145:

     No points were used by the ancient printers, excepting the colon and the period; but, after some time, a short oblique stroke, called a virgil, was introduced, which answered to the modern comma.

   • 1842, F. Francillon, An Essay on Punctuation, page 9:

     Whoever introduced the several points, it seems that a full-point, a point called come, answering to our colon-point, a point called virgil answering to our comma-point, the parenthesis-points and interrogative-point, were used at the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century.

   • 1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20:

     Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.

Punctuation