Octothorpe

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  octothorp \oc"to*thorp\, octothorpe \oc"to*thorpe\, n. [octo-
     eight + thorp Etymology of thorp uncertain. (ca. 1965). See
     quote below. Possibly derived from octalthorpe or octotherp
     (once used by the Bell System?).]
     A typographic symbol (#) having two vertical lines
     intersected by two horizontal lines. It is also called the


     {crosshatch}, {hash}, {numeral sign} and {number sign}; in
     the U. S. it is commonly called the {pound sign}, especially
     to designate the symbol as used on digital telephone dials,
     but this can be confusing to Europeans who think of the pound
     sign as the symbol for the British pound. It is commonly used
     as a symbol for the word number; as in #36 (meaning: number
     thirty-six).
     [PJC]
  
           octothorp
           Otherwise known as the numeral sign. It has also been
           used as a symbol for the pound avoirdupois, but this
           usage is now archaic. In cartography, it is also a
           symbol for village: eight fields around a central
           square, and this is the source of its name. Octothorp
           means eight fields.
                                                    --Robert
                                                    Bringhurst
                                                    (The Elements
                                                    of Typographic
                                                    Style (2d
                                                    edition,
                                                    1996), Hartley
                                                    & Marks,
                                                    Publishers,
                                                    Point Roberts,
                                                    WA; Vancouver,
                                                    BC, Canada, p.
                                                    282)
     [Joel Neely]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  octothorpe
       
          {hash character}