Symbols:Set Theory/Set Difference

Set Difference

$\setminus$

The difference between two sets $S$ and $T$ is denoted $S \setminus T$ and consists of all the elements of $S$ which are not elements of $T$.

$S \setminus T := \set {x \in S: x \notin T}$

The $\LaTeX$ code for \(\setminus\) is \setminus .

Also denoted as

Minus Symbol

$-$

A variant notation for the difference between two sets $S$ and $T$ is $S - T$.

The $\LaTeX$ code for \(S - T\) is S - T .

Also see

See Divisor for an alternative use of this symbol.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): difference: 2.
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): difference: 2.
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Appendix: Table $7$: Common signs and symbols: difference
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Appendix $14$: Symbols