Symbols:General/Ellipsis
Ellipsis
- $\ldots$ or $\cdots$
An ellipsis is used to indicate that there are omitted elements in a set or a sequence whose presence need to be inferred by the reader.
For example:
- $1, 2, \ldots, 10$
is to be understood as meaning:
- $1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10$
There are two forms of the horizontal ellipsis, one on the writing line which is to be used for punctuation separated lists:
- $a, b, \ldots, z$
and one centrally placed in the line, to be used in other circumstances, for example, in expressions assembled using arithmetic operations:
- $a + b + \cdots + k$
There also exist vertically and diagonally arranged ellipses, for use in the structure of matrices:
- $\begin{array}{c}
a \\ \vdots \\ b \end{array} \qquad \begin{array}{c} a \\ & \ddots \\ & & b \end{array}$
The $\LaTeX$ code for \(1, 2, \ldots, 10\) is 1, 2, \ldots, 10
.
The $\LaTeX$ code for \(1 + 2 + \cdots + 10\) is 1 + 2 + \cdots + 10
.
The $\LaTeX$ code for \(\vdots\) is \vdots
.
The $\LaTeX$ code for \(\ddots\) is \ddots
.
Linguistic Note
The plural of ellipsis is ellipses.
This is pronounced ell-ip-seez, where the final syllable is long.
Do not confuse with the plural of ellipse, which is spelt the same but is pronounced ell-ip-siz.