What’s this symbol called * ?

The asterisk is a star-shaped punctuation mark.

You’ve likely seen one, even if you’ve never used one. They often appear on web forms to show which fields are mandatory.

In formal and especially academic writing, you can use an asterisk after a word to point the reader to a footnote that shows the source or adds extra information.

Asterisks can also clarify information. You often see asterisks used this way in advertising. In these situations, an asterisk refers a reader to the fine print – like legal disclaimers (e.g. 'Terms and conditions apply').

Asterisks are sometimes used in writing in place of letters to censor offensive or inappropriate language. This is common in news writing and on TV.