Word.ws English Dictionary

octothorp

octothorp is the alternative spelling 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 octothorp

pluraloctothorps

Questions about octothorp

What is octothorp the alternative spelling of?
Octothorp is the alternative spelling of octothorpe.

Words near octothorp in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: octothorp (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.

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