Word.ws English Dictionary

octothorn

octothorn is the alternative form of octothorpe.

Meaning of octothorpe

Noun

octothorpe (plural octothorpes)

  1. (US) The hash or square symbol #, used mainly in telephony and computing.
    • The pad 1 provides keys for numerals 0 to 9, while the sextile or asterisk (*) key is decoded to provide a decimal point and the octothorp ( # ) key generates a command to send the contents of the memory unto the telephone line through a send circuit 7, a coupling circuit 8 and the hybrid network 2.1973, US patent application ser. no. 05/422,816 (filed 3 December 1973), issued as patent no. 3,920,926 (18 November 1975), Telephone Data Set Including Visual Display Means, col. 3

Forms of octothorn

pluraloctothorns

Questions about octothorn

What is octothorn the alternative form of?
Octothorn is the alternative form of octothorpe.

Words near octothorn in the dictionary

  1. octosyllabical
  2. octosyllabics
  3. octosyllable
  4. octosyllables
  5. octotaxic
  6. octothorn
  7. octothorns
  8. octothorp
  9. octothorpe
  10. octothorpes
  11. octothorps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: octothorn (page history and authors); octothorpe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “octothorn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/octothorn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.