U002D

U+002D, commonly written as U+002D or U002D in various specifications, is the Unicode code point for the hyphen-minus character. It is located in the Basic Latin block and corresponds to the ASCII hyphen-minus, with a decimal value of 45 and a hexadecimal value of 0x2D. In Unicode, its official name is HYPHEN-MINUS. In UTF-8 and other Unicode encodings, it is represented by a single byte 0x2D, reflecting its origin in ASCII.

Usage and function: The hyphen-minus serves as a punctuation mark for hyphenation and as a minus sign in plain text. In programming and computing contexts, it is widely used as the subtraction operator and as a unary negation operator. It also appears in domain names, file names, and various command-line options. In high-quality typesetting, the hyphen-minus is often supplemented by more typographically precise symbols (such as a dedicated minus sign or dash) when appropriate.

Distinctions from similar characters: Unicode differentiates several similar marks. U+2010 HYPHEN is a true hyphen, U+2011 NON-BREAKING HYPHEN is a non-breaking variant, U+2012 FIGURE DASH, U+2013 EN DASH, and U+2014 EM DASH are longer dash characters. The U+2212 MINUS SIGN is typographically distinct from the hyphen-minus and is preferred for mathematics. The hyphen-minus’s central role in ASCII means it remains ubiquitous in source code, data formats, and everyday text.

History and compatibility: The hyphen-minus has been part of ASCII since the character set’s early days and was included in Unicode from the outset. Its ubiquity stems from backward compatibility with ASCII and its suitability for simple text workflows across platforms and languages.