U+16ED "᛭" Runic Cross Punctuation Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
᛭
U+16ED "᛭" Runic Cross Punctuation is a specialized glyph from the Runic block, used historically in medieval runic inscriptions as a punctuation mark to separate words, phrases, or sections of text. Resembling a small cross or plus sign with four arms of equal length, it functioned similarly to a modern period or comma, providing visual breaks within continuous runic writing. Unlike alphabetic runes, this symbol does not represent a phonetic sound but served a purely structural and ritual purpose, sometimes also appearing in inscriptions related to Christian contexts or magical formulae. Its inclusion in Unicode allows digital preservation and accurate representation of historical runic texts across modern platforms.
General Properties
| Code Point | U+16ED |
| Version Added | 3.0 |
| Name | Runic Cross Punctuation |
| Block | Runic |
| General Category | Other Punctuation |
| Canonical Combining Class | Not Reordered |
| Bidirectional Class | Left To Right |
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding | ᛭ |
| HTML Hex Encoding | ᛭ |
| UTF-8 Encoding | 0xE1 0x9B 0xAD |
| UTF-16 Encoding | 0x16ED |
| UTF-32 Encoding | 0x000016ED |
| C/C++/Java Escape | \u16ed |