Less-Than but Not Equivalent To ⋦

⋦ (U+22E6) is a standard Unicode character that you can copy and paste anywhere text is accepted. This page provides a concise reference with safe tips, internal links, and practical guidance so you can use it reliably across apps and platforms.

What it is and where it’s used: Less-Than but Not Equivalent To is part of the Symbols family (block: Mathematical Operators). If you need styled or decorative alternatives, try our Fancy Text tool to generate compatible text that works in most modern interfaces.

History & usage: The character LESS-THAN BUT NOT EQUIVALENT TO, shown as a U+22E6 symbol, sits in the Mathematical Operators block. It is used to show a specific kind of order or relation that is not simply equal. In practice, it appears in formulas and diagrams where one quantity is strictly smaller than another but not interchangeable or equivalent in meaning. This helps avoid confusion when two items have a clear order yet differ in strength or interpretation. History records that mathematical symbols were developed to save words and to speed up reasoning. As math and logic grew, authors adopted distinct signs for precise ideas. The symbol began to appear in texts that discuss non-equivalence or strict comparison in a compact form. Users may encounter it in advanced math, logic proofs, or specialized diagrams. In user interfaces, common math symbols indicate operations or comparisons in formulas and settings where a value must be less than another but not assumed equal. The symbol therefore communicates a careful distinction used by mathematicians and educators alike.

Copy and input: the quickest method is to copy the character here. You can also insert it by its codepoint U+22E6 in many development tools or editors. Some operating systems provide a character viewer or input palette that lets you search by name or code and insert the glyph into documents.

Display and fallback: if you see an empty box (tofu) or a placeholder rectangle, the active font might not include this codepoint. Switching to a font with broader Unicode coverage or using a fallback font usually fixes the issue. On the web, ensure the page’s font stack includes a general‑purpose fallback.

Related references: browse the Categories for similar characters. When choosing a symbol, prefer the official codepoint for semantic clarity and better compatibility with search, copy, and accessibility tooling.

See our category page for related symbols.