Overstrike

Updated: 11/16/2019 by Computer Hope
Overstrikes with diacritical marks

An overstrike is a technique used in typesetting to create special characters by printing over another more commonly-used character. These special characters often have diacritic marks to denote a different spoken pronunciation.

Note

The term "overstrike" should not be confused with strikethrough, a style of text with a line through it to indicate it's changed or been removed. In HTML (hypertext markup language), strikethrough text looks like the example below.

Strikethrough

Using overstrikes in HTML

Characters with overstrikes can be represented in HTML by adding the decimal or hexadecimal HTML entity immediately after the character to be overstruck. For example, the acute accent, which looks like a diagonal line moving up and right above a letter, is represented by HTML entity ́ (decimal) or &x0301; (hexadecimal). If this HTML code is used immediately after a character which can be overstruck, the accent will be printed over that character. If not used immediately after an overstrikable character, the accent will be printed by itself.

For example:

HTML Displays as
O O
́ ́
Ó Ó
́ ́
Ó Ó

Browser compatibility

HTML diacritical/overstrike marks display correctly when viewed on the following Internet browsers:

List of HTML diacriticals

Diacritical Mark As overstrike Name HTML (decimal) HTML (hex)
̀ È Grave accent ̀ ̀
́ É Acute accent ́ ́
̂ Ê Circumflex accent ̂ ̂
̃ Ẽ Tilde ̃ ̃
̄ Ē Macron ̄ ̄
̅ E̅ Overline ̅ ̅
̆ Ĕ Breve ̆ ̆
̇ Ė Dot above ̇ ̇
̈ Ë Diaresis ̈ ̈
̉ Ẻ Hook above ̉ ̉
̊ E̊ Ring above ̊ ̊
̋ E̋ Double acute accent ̋ ̋
̌ Ě Caron ̌ ̌
̍ E̍ Vertical line above ̍ ̍
̎ E̎ Double vertical line above ̎ ̎
̏ Ȅ Double grave accent ̏ ̏
̐ E̐ Candrabindu ̐ ̐
̑ Ȇ Inverted breve ̑ ̑
̒ E̒ Turned comma above ̒ ̒
̓ E̓ Comma above ̓ ̓
̔ E̔ Reversed comma above ̔ ̔
̕ E̕ Comma above right ̕ ̕
̖ E̖ Grave accent below ̖ ̖
̗ E̗ Acute accent below ̗ ̗
̘ E̘ Left tack below ̘ ̘
̙ E̙ Right tack below ̙ ̙
̚ E̚ Left angle above ̚ ̚
̛ E̛ Horn ̛ ̛
̜ E̜ Left half ring below ̜ ̜
̝ E̝ Up tack below ̝ ̝
̞ E̞ Down tack below ̞ ̞
̟ E̟ Plus sign below ̟ ̟
̠ E̠ Minus sign below ̠ ̠
̡ E̡ Palatalized hook below ̡ ̡
̢ E̢ Retroflex hook below ̢ ̢
̣ Ẹ Dot below ̣ ̣
̤ E̤ Diaresis below ̤ ̤
̥ E̥ Ring below ̥ ̥
̦ E̦ Comma below ̦ ̦
̧ Ȩ Cedilla ̧ ̧
̨ Ę Ogonek ̨ ̨
̩ E̩ Vertical line below ̩ ̩
̪ E̪ Bridge below ̪ ̪
̫ E̫ Inverted double arch below ̫ ̫
̬ E̬ Caron below ̬ ̬
̭ Ḙ Circumflex accent below ̭ ̭
̮ E̮ Breve below ̮ ̮
̯ E̯ Inverted breve below ̯ ̯
̰ Ḛ Tilde below ̰ ̰
̱ E̱ Macron below ̱ ̱
̲ E̲ Low line ̲ ̲
̳ E̳ Double low line ̳ ̳
̴ E̴ Tilde overlay ̴ ̴
̵ E̵ Short stroke overlay ̵ ̵
̶ E̶ Long stroke overlay ̶ ̶
̷ E̷ Short solidus overlay ̷ ̷
̸ E̸ Long solidus overlay ̸ ̸
̹ E̹ Right half ring below ̹ ̹
̺ E̺ Inverted bridge below ̺ ̺
̻ E̻ Square below ̻ ̻
̼ E̼ Seagull below ̼ ̼
̽ E̽ X above ̽ ̽
̾ E̾ Vertical tilde ̾ ̾
̿ E̿ Double overline ̿ ̿
̀ È Grave tone mark ̀ ̀
́ É Acute tone mark ́ ́
͂ E͂ Greek perispomeni ͂ ͂
̓ E̓ Greek koronis ̓ ̓
̈́ Ë́ Greek dialytika tonos ̈́ ̈́
ͅ Eͅ Greek ypogegrammeni ͅ ͅ
͆ E͆ Bridge above ͆ ͆
͇ E͇ Equals sign below ͇ ͇
͈ E͈ Double vertical line below ͈ ͈
͉ E͉ Left angle below ͉ ͉
͊ E͊ Not tilde above ͊ ͊
͋ E͋ Homothetic above ͋ ͋
͌ E͌ Almost equal to above ͌ ͌
͍ E͍ Left right arrow below ͍ ͍
͎ E͎ Upwards arrow below ͎ ͎
͏ E͏ Grapheme joiner ͏ ͏
͐ E͐ Right arrowhead above ͐ ͐
͑ E͑ Left half ring above ͑ ͑
͒ E͒ Fermata ͒ ͒
͓ E͓ X below ͓ ͓
͔ E͔ Left arrowhead below ͔ ͔
͕ E͕ Right arrowhead below ͕ ͕
͖ E͖ Right and left arrowhead below ͖ ͖
͗ E͗ Right half ring above ͗ ͗
͘ E͘ Dot above right ͘ ͘
͙ E͙ Asterisk below ͙ ͙
͚ E͚ Double ring below ͚ ͚
͛ E͛ Zigzag above ͛ ͛
͜ E͜ Double breve below ͜ ͜
͝ E͝ Double breve ͝ ͝
͞ E͞ Double macron ͞ ͞
͟ E͟ Double macron below ͟ ͟
͠ E͠ Double tilde ͠ ͠
͡ E͡ Double inverted breve ͡ ͡
͢ E͢ Double rightwards arrow below ͢ ͢
ͣ Eͣ Latin small A ͣ ͣ
ͤ Eͤ Latin small E ͤ ͤ
ͥ Eͥ Latin small I ͥ ͥ
ͦ Eͦ Latin small O ͦ ͦ
ͧ Eͧ Latin small U ͧ ͧ
ͨ Eͨ Latin small C ͨ ͨ
ͩ Eͩ Latin small D ͩ ͩ
ͪ Eͪ Latin small H ͪ ͪ
ͫ Eͫ Latin small M ͫ &#x03i6B;
ͬ Eͬ Latin small R ͬ ͬ
ͭ Eͭ Latin small T ͭ ͭ
ͮ Eͮ Latin small V ͮ ͮ
ͯ Eͯ Latin small X ͯ ͯ

Font, Special characters, Typography terms