astérisque
/as.te.ʁisk/masculine
Asterisk in French is astérisque, the name of the star-shaped symbol *.
astérisque is used for the symbol itself and for anything shaped like it, for example when reading out a password, a footnote mark or a phone menu instruction.
Meaning: star-shaped symbol *, something resembling or shaped like an asterisk symbol (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
astérisque is a masculine noun, so it takes un, as in un astérisque. Because it starts with a vowel, the definite article is shortened to l' before it.
How do you pronounce it?
astérisque has three syllables, pronounced /as.te.ʁisk/.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Some French speakers treat the word as feminine in casual speech, but the standard gender is masculine, so say un astérisque.
Did you know?
- In early manuscripts, the astérisque was used not just for footnotes, but to mark passages that were suspected to be fraudulent or doubtful.
Examples in context
- Il y a un astérisque ici.There is an asterisk here.
- L'astérisque est écrit en rouge.The asterisk is written in red.
- Veuillez regarder l'astérisque en bas de la page.Please look at the asterisk at the bottom of the page.
Example conversation
Emma and Hugo are proofreading a document together.
- EmmaHugo, as-tu vu cet astérisque ?Hugo, did you see this asterisk?
- HugoOui, il est juste après le mot.Yes, it is right after the word.
- EmmaEst-ce que l'astérisque est important ?Is the asterisk important?
- HugoOui, il renvoie à une note de bas de page.Yes, it refers to a footnote.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “asterisk” translations and entries astérisque, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries astérisque, CC BY-SA 4.0.
