Dinkus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A typographical symbol or group of symbols used to indicate a section break or pause in printed text ; a small decorative mark placed between paragraphs to separate or highlight content ; a visual device employed in publishing to denote a shift in topic or scene
2. A printed icon or cluster of characters serving as a divider within a text to signal a change or interruption ; a minor ornamental graphic used in books or articles to separate ideas or sections ; a punctuation mark utilized to visually separate parts of written work
3. A typographic marker that denotes a break or transition in a narrative or layout ; a simple decorative element inserted between sections to emphasize separation ; a graphical cue in text that signals a shift or discrete division within a content block

Etymology: The little ornament printers use to mark a break between sections of text, usually a asterisk-like symbol or a row of stars or fleurons, was given its name by an artist working for The Bulletin, the Sydney weekly magazine, in the 1920s. The word is built from "dinky," a term meaning small or neat, which in Australian slang had come to mean something tiny and cute. The artist reached for it to describe a decorative drawing that could fill a gap in a page of type. The coinage is a neat example of slang being pressed into technical service. "Dinky" itself was a familiar informal adjective, and adding the Latin-style ending "-us" gave the newly named object a faintly learned air, the sort of pseudo-classical touch printers often favoured for their tools and terms.

Synonyms: asterism, divider, separator