"?" meaning in Translingual

See ? in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Punctuation

Forms: question mark [English, name], interrogation mark [English, name], interrogation point [English, name], eroteme [English, name]
Etymology: Uncertain. There are two primary theories of the origin of the question mark. One states that ⟨?⟩ descends from the punctus interrogativus ⟨⹔⟩, which instructed the reader (or singer) to raise the pitch of their voice while coming to a stop. Another theory is that it derives from overset Qo, an abbreviation of Latin quaestiō (“question”), placed at the end of a question to mark it as such, and analogous to the derivation of ⟨!⟩. There are no documented intermediary forms to support one theory over the other. Etymology templates: {{unc|mul}} Uncertain, {{angbr|?}} ⟨?⟩, {{angbr|⹔}} ⟨⹔⟩, {{der|mul|la|quaestiō||question}} Latin quaestiō (“question”), {{angbr|!}} ⟨!⟩ Head templates: {{head|mul|punctuation mark||[[#Translingual|]]|English name|question mark|or|interrogation mark|or|interrogation point|or|eroteme|cat2=|f1lang=en|f1nolink=|f2lang=en|f2nolink=|f3lang=en|f3nolink=|f4lang=en|f4nolink=|head=|head2=|sc=|sort=}} ? (English name question mark or interrogation mark or interrogation point or eroteme), {{mul-punctuation mark|name=question mark|name2=interrogation mark|name3=interrogation point|name4=eroteme}} ? (English name question mark or interrogation mark or interrogation point or eroteme)
  1. Used in various left-to-right scripts, including notably the Latin script, to mark the preceding sentence as a question.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-punct-KQ4-kKAj
  2. (comics, Internet slang) Used by itself to convey that the speaker is confused. Tags: Internet
    Sense id: en-?-mul-punct-apeUsTXt Categories (other): Comics Topics: comics, literature, media, publishing
  3. (linguistics) Marks the following word or phrase as questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-punct-73CXd53i Categories (other): Linguistics Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: For the reversed question mark used in some right-to-left scripts, ؟

Symbol

Etymology: Uncertain. There are two primary theories of the origin of the question mark. One states that ⟨?⟩ descends from the punctus interrogativus ⟨⹔⟩, which instructed the reader (or singer) to raise the pitch of their voice while coming to a stop. Another theory is that it derives from overset Qo, an abbreviation of Latin quaestiō (“question”), placed at the end of a question to mark it as such, and analogous to the derivation of ⟨!⟩. There are no documented intermediary forms to support one theory over the other. Etymology templates: {{unc|mul}} Uncertain, {{angbr|?}} ⟨?⟩, {{angbr|⹔}} ⟨⹔⟩, {{der|mul|la|quaestiō||question}} Latin quaestiō (“question”), {{angbr|!}} ⟨!⟩ Head templates: {{mul-symbol/script|None}} Zsym, {{head|mul|symbol|||or||or||or||cat2=|f1lang=en|f1nolink=|f2lang=en|f2nolink=|f3lang=en|f3nolink=|f4lang=en|f4nolink=|head=|head2=|head3=|head4=|image=|nolinkhead=|sc=Zsym|sort=}} ?, {{mul-symbol}} ?
  1. A placeholder for an unknown word, phrase, text, or numerical value.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-ah7S9vOc
  2. (chess) Indicator of a bad move.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-MPIyWItK Categories (other): Chess, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28 Topics: board-games, chess, games
  3. (programming) A wildcard for one character in query language.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-jUJmMpDk Categories (other): Programming, Pages with 3 entries Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
  4. (programming) The ternary operator in some programming languages.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-bJjek6Oo Categories (other): Programming, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences
  5. (regular expressions) Detects zero or one occurrences of the preceding element.
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-Ta1hB4rl Categories (other): Regular expressions
  6. (networking) In a URL, begins a query string (a series of data formatted as field-value pairs).
    Sense id: en-?-mul-symbol-Hm0LOmbK Categories (other): Networking, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, Translingual entries with incorrect language header, Translingual punctuation marks, Translingual terms with non-redundant manual script codes Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28 Disambiguation of Translingual entries with incorrect language header: 4 1 6 3 9 24 19 4 32 Disambiguation of Translingual punctuation marks: 7 2 9 2 10 12 22 7 29 Disambiguation of Translingual terms with non-redundant manual script codes: 8 3 7 4 6 16 16 4 37 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, networking, physical-sciences, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: !?, ?!, ??, ¿ ?, ‽, ⸮
Related terms: ؟, !, !!, ;, ՞ [Armenian], ？, apostrophe (alt: '; ’), curly brackets, brace (alt: { }) [US], square bracket, bracket (alt: [ ]) [US], colon (alt: :), comma (alt: ,), dash (alt: ‒; –; —; ―), ellipsis (alt: …), exclamation mark (alt: !), fraction slash (alt: ⁄), guillemet (alt: « »; ‹ ›), hyphen (alt: -; ‐), interpunct (alt: ·), interrobang (alt: ‽) [rare], bracket, parentheses (US, Canada) (alt: ( )), full stop, period (alt: .) [Canada, US], question mark (alt: ?), quotation marks (alt: ‘ ’ ‚; „) [formal], quotation marks (alt: "; ') [informal] [computing, engineering, mathematics, sciences, physical-sciences, natural-sciences], semicolon (alt: ;), slash, stroke (alt: /) [UK], space (alt: ] [)

Alternative forms

{
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      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
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      "expansion": "⟨?⟩",
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  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. There are two primary theories of the origin of the question mark. One states that ⟨?⟩ descends from the punctus interrogativus ⟨⹔⟩, which instructed the reader (or singer) to raise the pitch of their voice while coming to a stop.\nAnother theory is that it derives from overset Qo, an abbreviation of Latin quaestiō (“question”), placed at the end of a question to mark it as such, and analogous to the derivation of ⟨!⟩.\nThere are no documented intermediary forms to support one theory over the other.",
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      "expansion": "? (English name question mark or interrogation mark or interrogation point or eroteme)",
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      "args": {
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      "name": "mul-punctuation mark"
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  "lang_code": "mul",
  "pos": "punct",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "For the reversed question mark used in some right-to-left scripts"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "؟"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
              32
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          "text": "Then you're not coming tomorrow?",
          "type": "example"
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        "Used in various left-to-right scripts, including notably the Latin script, to mark the preceding sentence as a question."
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          "Latin script",
          "Appendix:Latin script"
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          "question",
          "question#English"
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      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
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    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Comics",
          "orig": "mul:Comics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Character #1: \"I have no time to explain! Have you seen a Big Bad Wolf blowing down various houses?\""
        },
        {
          "text": "Character #2: \"?\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used by itself to convey that the speaker is confused."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-punct-apeUsTXt",
      "links": [
        [
          "comics",
          "comics"
        ],
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "by itself",
          "by oneself#English"
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        [
          "confused",
          "confused#English"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(comics, Internet slang) Used by itself to convey that the speaker is confused."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "comics",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing"
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    {
      "categories": [
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          "ref": "2006, Renaat Declerck, Susan Reed, Bert Cappelle, “The Grammar of the English Verb Phrase”, in The Grammar of the English Tense System, volume 1 (in English), →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "A superscript question mark will be used similarly to indicate that a sentence or constituent is questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason. A double superscript question mark indicates an even higher degree of questionability.\nI have never { worked / been working } on a dissertation\nThis time tomorrow I { will / ^(??)am going to } be driving to London.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Marks the following word or phrase as questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-punct-73CXd53i",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
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        "(linguistics) Marks the following word or phrase as questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "?"
}

{
  "derived": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "!?"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "?!"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "??"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "¿ ?"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "‽"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "⸮"
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      "expansion": "Uncertain",
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      "args": {
        "1": "None"
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        "1": "mul",
        "10": "",
        "2": "symbol",
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        "4": "",
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        "6": "",
        "7": "or",
        "8": "",
        "9": "or",
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        "head": "",
        "head2": "",
        "head3": "",
        "head4": "",
        "image": "",
        "nolinkhead": "",
        "sc": "Zsym",
        "sort": ""
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      "expansion": "?",
      "name": "head"
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "?",
      "name": "mul-symbol"
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  "lang_code": "mul",
  "pos": "symbol",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "؟"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "!"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "!!"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": ";"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "Armenian"
      ],
      "word": "՞"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "？"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "'; ’",
      "word": "apostrophe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "curly brackets"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "{ }",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "brace"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "square bracket"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "[ ]",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "bracket"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": ":",
      "word": "colon"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": ",",
      "word": "comma"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "‒; –; —; ―",
      "word": "dash"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "…",
      "word": "ellipsis"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "!",
      "word": "exclamation mark"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "⁄",
      "word": "fraction slash"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "« »; ‹ ›",
      "word": "guillemet"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "-; ‐",
      "word": "hyphen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "·",
      "word": "interpunct"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "‽",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "interrobang"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "bracket"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "parentheses (US"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "( )",
      "word": "Canada)"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "full stop"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": ".",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "period"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "?",
      "word": "question mark"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "‘ ’ ‚; „",
      "tags": [
        "formal"
      ],
      "word": "quotation marks"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "\"; '",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "natural-sciences"
      ],
      "word": "quotation marks"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": ";",
      "word": "semicolon"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "slash"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "word": "stroke"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "alt": "] [",
      "word": "space"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
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            ],
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          ],
          "text": "Thomas Hamilton (born 16??, died 17??)",
          "type": "example"
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          ],
          "ref": "2009, Terry Stickels, Math Puzzles and Brainteasers, Grades 3-5: Over 300 Puzzles that Teach Math and Problem-Solving Skills (in English), John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "What is the next number in the sequence below?\n1 4 9 16 25 36 ?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A placeholder for an unknown word, phrase, text, or numerical value."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-ah7S9vOc",
      "links": [
        [
          "placeholder",
          "placeholder"
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        [
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          "word"
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        [
          "phrase",
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        [
          "text",
          "text"
        ],
        [
          "value",
          "value"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Chess",
          "orig": "mul:Chess",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Indicator of a bad move."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-MPIyWItK",
      "links": [
        [
          "chess",
          "chess"
        ],
        [
          "bad",
          "bad"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chess) Indicator of a bad move."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "board-games",
        "chess",
        "games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Programming",
          "orig": "mul:Programming",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wildcard for one character in query language."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-jUJmMpDk",
      "links": [
        [
          "programming",
          "programming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "wildcard",
          "wildcard"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "query language",
          "query language"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) A wildcard for one character in query language."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "programming",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Programming",
          "orig": "mul:Programming",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The ternary operator in some programming languages."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-bJjek6Oo",
      "links": [
        [
          "programming",
          "programming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "ternary operator",
          "ternary operator"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) The ternary operator in some programming languages."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "programming",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Regular expressions",
          "orig": "mul:Regular expressions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The string colou?r matches both \"color\" and \"colour\"."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Detects zero or one occurrences of the preceding element."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-Ta1hB4rl",
      "links": [
        [
          "regular expression",
          "regular expression"
        ],
        [
          "zero",
          "zero"
        ],
        [
          "one",
          "one"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "regular expressions",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(regular expressions) Detects zero or one occurrences of the preceding element."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "mul",
          "name": "Networking",
          "orig": "mul:Networking",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 3 1 4 6 2 4 2 10 11 23 8 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 0 2 1 2 7 1 2 1 10 8 27 9 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 1 6 3 9 24 19 4 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Translingual entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 2 9 2 10 12 22 7 29",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Translingual punctuation marks",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 3 7 4 6 16 16 4 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Translingual terms with non-redundant manual script codes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day&action=view"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a URL, begins a query string (a series of data formatted as field-value pairs)."
      ],
      "id": "en-?-mul-symbol-Hm0LOmbK",
      "links": [
        [
          "networking",
          "networking#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "URL",
          "URL"
        ],
        [
          "query string",
          "query string"
        ],
        [
          "data",
          "data"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(networking) In a URL, begins a query string (a series of data formatted as field-value pairs)."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "networking",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "?"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Translingual entries with incorrect language header",
    "Translingual lemmas",
    "Translingual punctuation marks",
    "Translingual symbols",
    "Translingual terms derived from Latin",
    "Translingual terms with non-redundant manual script codes",
    "Translingual terms with unknown etymologies"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨?⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "⹔"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨⹔⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "quaestiō",
        "4": "",
        "5": "question"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin quaestiō (“question”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "!"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨!⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. There are two primary theories of the origin of the question mark. One states that ⟨?⟩ descends from the punctus interrogativus ⟨⹔⟩, which instructed the reader (or singer) to raise the pitch of their voice while coming to a stop.\nAnother theory is that it derives from overset Qo, an abbreviation of Latin quaestiō (“question”), placed at the end of a question to mark it as such, and analogous to the derivation of ⟨!⟩.\nThere are no documented intermediary forms to support one theory over the other.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "question mark",
      "tags": [
        "English",
        "name"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "interrogation mark",
      "tags": [
        "English",
        "name"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "interrogation point",
      "tags": [
        "English",
        "name"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "eroteme",
      "tags": [
        "English",
        "name"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul",
        "10": "interrogation point",
        "11": "or",
        "12": "eroteme",
        "2": "punctuation mark",
        "3": "",
        "4": "[[#Translingual|]]",
        "5": "English name",
        "6": "question mark",
        "7": "or",
        "8": "interrogation mark",
        "9": "or",
        "cat2": "",
        "f1lang": "en",
        "f1nolink": "",
        "f2lang": "en",
        "f2nolink": "",
        "f3lang": "en",
        "f3nolink": "",
        "f4lang": "en",
        "f4nolink": "",
        "head": "",
        "head2": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "? (English name question mark or interrogation mark or interrogation point or eroteme)",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "name": "question mark",
        "name2": "interrogation mark",
        "name3": "interrogation point",
        "name4": "eroteme"
      },
      "expansion": "? (English name question mark or interrogation mark or interrogation point or eroteme)",
      "name": "mul-punctuation mark"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Translingual",
  "lang_code": "mul",
  "pos": "punct",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "For the reversed question mark used in some right-to-left scripts"
    },
    {
      "word": "؟"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Translingual terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
              32
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Then you're not coming tomorrow?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used in various left-to-right scripts, including notably the Latin script, to mark the preceding sentence as a question."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Latin script",
          "Appendix:Latin script"
        ],
        [
          "question",
          "question#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Translingual internet slang",
        "mul:Comics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Character #1: \"I have no time to explain! Have you seen a Big Bad Wolf blowing down various houses?\""
        },
        {
          "text": "Character #2: \"?\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used by itself to convey that the speaker is confused."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "comics",
          "comics"
        ],
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "by itself",
          "by oneself#English"
        ],
        [
          "confused",
          "confused#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(comics, Internet slang) Used by itself to convey that the speaker is confused."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "comics",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Translingual terms with quotations",
        "mul:Linguistics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              334,
              335
            ],
            [
              335,
              336
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2006, Renaat Declerck, Susan Reed, Bert Cappelle, “The Grammar of the English Verb Phrase”, in The Grammar of the English Tense System, volume 1 (in English), →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "A superscript question mark will be used similarly to indicate that a sentence or constituent is questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason. A double superscript question mark indicates an even higher degree of questionability.\nI have never { worked / been working } on a dissertation\nThis time tomorrow I { will / ^(??)am going to } be driving to London.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Marks the following word or phrase as questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) Marks the following word or phrase as questionable for a grammatical or semantic-pragmatic reason."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "punctuation"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "?"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Translingual entries with incorrect language header",
    "Translingual lemmas",
    "Translingual punctuation marks",
    "Translingual symbols",
    "Translingual terms derived from Latin",
    "Translingual terms with non-redundant manual script codes",
    "Translingual terms with unknown etymologies"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "!?"
    },
    {
      "word": "?!"
    },
    {
      "word": "??"
    },
    {
      "word": "¿ ?"
    },
    {
      "word": "‽"
    },
    {
      "word": "⸮"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨?⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "⹔"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨⹔⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "quaestiō",
        "4": "",
        "5": "question"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin quaestiō (“question”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "!"
      },
      "expansion": "⟨!⟩",
      "name": "angbr"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. There are two primary theories of the origin of the question mark. One states that ⟨?⟩ descends from the punctus interrogativus ⟨⹔⟩, which instructed the reader (or singer) to raise the pitch of their voice while coming to a stop.\nAnother theory is that it derives from overset Qo, an abbreviation of Latin quaestiō (“question”), placed at the end of a question to mark it as such, and analogous to the derivation of ⟨!⟩.\nThere are no documented intermediary forms to support one theory over the other.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "None"
      },
      "expansion": "Zsym",
      "name": "mul-symbol/script"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "mul",
        "10": "",
        "2": "symbol",
        "3": "",
        "4": "",
        "5": "or",
        "6": "",
        "7": "or",
        "8": "",
        "9": "or",
        "cat2": "",
        "f1lang": "en",
        "f1nolink": "",
        "f2lang": "en",
        "f2nolink": "",
        "f3lang": "en",
        "f3nolink": "",
        "f4lang": "en",
        "f4nolink": "",
        "head": "",
        "head2": "",
        "head3": "",
        "head4": "",
        "image": "",
        "nolinkhead": "",
        "sc": "Zsym",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "?",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "?",
      "name": "mul-symbol"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Translingual",
  "lang_code": "mul",
  "pos": "symbol",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "!"
    },
    {
      "word": "!!"
    },
    {
      "word": ";"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "Armenian"
      ],
      "word": "՞"
    },
    {
      "word": "؟"
    },
    {
      "word": "？"
    },
    {
      "alt": "'; ’",
      "word": "apostrophe"
    },
    {
      "word": "curly brackets"
    },
    {
      "alt": "{ }",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "brace"
    },
    {
      "word": "square bracket"
    },
    {
      "alt": "[ ]",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "bracket"
    },
    {
      "alt": ":",
      "word": "colon"
    },
    {
      "alt": ",",
      "word": "comma"
    },
    {
      "alt": "‒; –; —; ―",
      "word": "dash"
    },
    {
      "alt": "…",
      "word": "ellipsis"
    },
    {
      "alt": "!",
      "word": "exclamation mark"
    },
    {
      "alt": "⁄",
      "word": "fraction slash"
    },
    {
      "alt": "« »; ‹ ›",
      "word": "guillemet"
    },
    {
      "alt": "-; ‐",
      "word": "hyphen"
    },
    {
      "alt": "·",
      "word": "interpunct"
    },
    {
      "alt": "‽",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "interrobang"
    },
    {
      "word": "bracket"
    },
    {
      "word": "parentheses (US"
    },
    {
      "alt": "( )",
      "word": "Canada)"
    },
    {
      "word": "full stop"
    },
    {
      "alt": ".",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "period"
    },
    {
      "alt": "?",
      "word": "question mark"
    },
    {
      "alt": "‘ ’ ‚; „",
      "tags": [
        "formal"
      ],
      "word": "quotation marks"
    },
    {
      "alt": "\"; '",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "natural-sciences"
      ],
      "word": "quotation marks"
    },
    {
      "alt": ";",
      "word": "semicolon"
    },
    {
      "word": "slash"
    },
    {
      "alt": "/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "word": "stroke"
    },
    {
      "alt": "] [",
      "word": "space"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Translingual terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
              26
            ],
            [
              35,
              37
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Thomas Hamilton (born 16??, died 17??)",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              46
            ],
            [
              62,
              63
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009, Terry Stickels, Math Puzzles and Brainteasers, Grades 3-5: Over 300 Puzzles that Teach Math and Problem-Solving Skills (in English), John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 6:",
          "text": "What is the next number in the sequence below?\n1 4 9 16 25 36 ?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A placeholder for an unknown word, phrase, text, or numerical value."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "placeholder",
          "placeholder"
        ],
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "phrase",
          "phrase"
        ],
        [
          "text",
          "text"
        ],
        [
          "value",
          "value"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "mul:Chess"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Indicator of a bad move."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "chess",
          "chess"
        ],
        [
          "bad",
          "bad"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chess) Indicator of a bad move."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "board-games",
        "chess",
        "games"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "mul:Programming"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wildcard for one character in query language."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "programming",
          "programming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "wildcard",
          "wildcard"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "query language",
          "query language"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) A wildcard for one character in query language."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "programming",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "mul:Programming"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The ternary operator in some programming languages."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "programming",
          "programming#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "ternary operator",
          "ternary operator"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(programming) The ternary operator in some programming languages."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "programming",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "mul:Regular expressions"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The string colou?r matches both \"color\" and \"colour\"."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Detects zero or one occurrences of the preceding element."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "regular expression",
          "regular expression"
        ],
        [
          "zero",
          "zero"
        ],
        [
          "one",
          "one"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "regular expressions",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(regular expressions) Detects zero or one occurrences of the preceding element."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "mul:Networking"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day&action=view"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a URL, begins a query string (a series of data formatted as field-value pairs)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "networking",
          "networking#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "URL",
          "URL"
        ],
        [
          "query string",
          "query string"
        ],
        [
          "data",
          "data"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(networking) In a URL, begins a query string (a series of data formatted as field-value pairs)."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "networking",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "?"
}

Download raw JSONL data for ? meaning in Translingual (10.7kB)

{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/1089",
  "msg": "suspicious unhandled suffix in Translingual: '¿ ?', originally '¿ ?'",
  "path": [
    "?"
  ],
  "section": "Translingual",
  "subsection": "symbol",
  "title": "?",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Translingual dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (e2469cc and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.