Asterism (typography)


In typography, an asterism,, is a typographic symbol consisting of three asterisks placed in a triangle, and is a type of dinkus.
The name originates from the astronomical term for a group of stars Nowadays the symbol is used rarely and is nearly obsolete. Its purpose is to "indicate minor breaks in text", to call attention to a passage, or to separate sub-chapters in a book.
Ulysses, the "Wandering Rocks" chapter, from the 1922 edition. The 1961 edition used a hollow white star, and the 1984 edition used a dinkus.
In more recent texts, a row of three or more asterisks, or three or more dots, are more common. Otherwise, an extra space between paragraphs is used. An asterism or its analogue may be used in conjunction with the extra space to mark a smaller subdivision than a sub-chapter.
It can also be used to mean "untitled" or author or title withheld as seen, for example, in some editions of Album for the Young by composer Robert Schumann.
In meteorology, an asterism in a station model indicates moderate snowfall.

Dinkus

A dinkus is a typographical device to divide text, such as at section breaks. An asterism is sometimes used for this purpose. Another common dinkus is three asterisks or three dots in a horizontal row. A small black and white drawing or a fleuron may be used for the same purpose.
Among older Hungarian Americans and Polish Americans, the word is an archaic term for Easter Monday.