| has gloss | eng: The symbol is a punctuation mark, called an index, manicule (from the Latin root manus for hand) or fist. Though rare today, this symbol was in common use between the 12th and 18th centuries in the margins of books, and was formerly included in lists of standard punctuation marks. Its typical use is as a bullet-like symbol to direct the reader’s attention to important text, having roughly the same meaning as the word “attention” or “note”. Some encyclopedias use it in articles to cross-reference, as in other articles. It occasionally sees use in magazines and comic books to indicate to the reader that a story on the right-hand page continues onto the next. |
