Mean Symbol (x̄)

The mean symbol is x̄. The notation x̄, read “x bar,” commonly represents a sample arithmetic mean. It is encoded as the letter x followed by U+0304 COMBINING MACRON; the population mean is commonly written with μ. For Mean Symbol, x̄ is encoded as U+0078 U+0304, and its Unicode name is LATIN SMALL LETTER X + COMBINING MACRON. Mean Symbol uses x̄ for a sample mean in the reviewed statistics intent. The displayed form is a sequence consisting of LATIN SMALL LETTER X followed by COMBINING MACRON. Because the bar is a combining mark, copying and font support need careful testing. Some applications can separate the mark, position it poorly, or normalize the sequence differently. A validation check should confirm both code points and inspect the final PDF, browser, or document export. The notation does not define the sample by itself. A formula, table heading, or sentence should state which variable is averaged and which observations belong to the sample. The population mean is commonly written with μ, which is a different character and notation. An accessible representation should say “x bar” or “sample mean” rather than reading only the base letter. Structured math markup is preferable when the expression includes subscripts, fractions, or a full mean formula. Unicode combining-mark data and NIST statistical references support the sequence and statistical scope. The page does not treat every barred letter as the same statistic. Examples such as Sample mean: x̄ = 12.4, Formula: x̄ = (x₁ + x₂ + ··· + xₙ) / n, Report: x̄ = 18.2, s = 3.1, Confidence interval center: x̄ ± margin of error, and Compare sample mean x̄ with population mean μ define the operational range of Mean Symbol. The Mean Symbol use cases are statistical reports, research papers, data analysis, and teaching materials, not unrelated image, logo, or broad-symbolism queries. Define the sample represented by x̄. Use an equation editor when the macron does not align correctly in the body font. For Mean Symbol, Unicode, W3C/WCAG, WHATWG HTML, and NIST provide the evidence base, while mean, Latin Small Letter X + Combining Macron, x bar, and sample mean remain accepted lookup labels. On this page, x̄ answers the statistics query for a sample arithmetic mean. The related X-Bar page focuses on copying, encoding, and typing the x-plus-macron sequence rather than explaining the statistical concept.