HTML Entity Lookup

HTML character references let markup represent characters with names such as ©, decimal references such as ©, or hexadecimal references such as ©. They are useful when a character is hard to type, visually ambiguous, reserved in markup, or needs to be pasted safely into text and attribute contexts.

Entity lookup is more than a name table. Some references map to multiple code points, some old HTML names have legacy no-semicolon behavior, and a literal character may need different escaping in text, quoted attributes, unquoted attributes, JavaScript strings, or CSS strings.

The lookup accepts an entity, bare name, symbol, decimal code point, hexadecimal code point, U+ notation, or a short sequence. It returns recommended HTML output, code point rows, aliases, paste targets, review notes, and JSON for audit or handoff.

This is especially useful when copied text does not look like the bytes or characters that will reach a browser. A visible quote, space, dash, or mathematical symbol can have several similar Unicode forms, and the safest paste form depends on whether the destination is markup text, an attribute, a stylesheet, or source code.

Technical Details:

The resolver uses the HTML named character reference catalog when available and falls back to library decoding and numeric parsing when needed. Decode mode turns entity text into characters. Encode mode turns characters into named, decimal, hexadecimal, JavaScript, and CSS-style outputs.

Strict parsing treats malformed or legacy-looking input more cautiously. Attribute-value mode changes the guidance because ampersands, quotes, spaces, equals signs, and angle brackets have different risk in attribute surfaces than in a normal text node.

The official catalog can include more than one named alias for the same character sequence. The alias rows help choose a readable default while still showing legacy or alternate names that may appear in older markup.

Everyday Use & Decision Guide:

Use auto direction for most pasted tokens. Choose decode when you have text like   or   and need to see the actual character. Choose encode when you have a symbol and need a safe markup representation.

• Prefer named output for common readable references such as ampersand, copyright, non-breaking space, and typographic marks.
• Use hexadecimal or decimal output when no official named reference exists for the exact character sequence.
• Check the code point rows when the visible glyph is blank, combining, emoji-like, or made of multiple characters.
• Use paste targets instead of a raw entity when copying into attributes, JavaScript, or CSS.

If a reference resolves to whitespace, a control-like character, or multiple code points, inspect it before pasting. Invisible output is a common cause of confusing template bugs and copy review mistakes.

When the same character has several aliases, choose the one your team will recognize during later maintenance. Readability matters in templates because escaped text is often reviewed months after the original paste.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Paste an entity, name, symbol, code point, or short character sequence.
2. Choose auto, decode, or encode direction.
3. Open Advanced if you need strict parsing, attribute rules, or a preferred output style.
4. Read the reference board for the resolved character and recommended output.
5. Use Paste Targets for the destination context instead of copying the first row blindly.

Interpreting Results:

The primary output is the recommended representation under the selected settings. Alias rows show other names that resolve to the same value, but they are not always the best choice for new markup.

Code point rows are the audit trail. They show whether the result is a single scalar value, a sequence, a combining mark, whitespace, or a character that may not render visibly in every font.

Strict parse failures usually mean the token is incomplete, unknown, or unsafe to treat as a normal HTML reference. In that case, copy a numeric fallback only after confirming the intended code point.

Worked Examples:

Named decode. © resolves to © and shows U+00A9, decimal and hexadecimal numeric forms, and paste targets for markup and code contexts.

Reserved character encode. The literal ampersand encodes as & in text because a raw ampersand can start a character reference.

Invisible spacing check.   resolves to a non-breaking space. The glyph may look blank, so the code point row is the reliable proof of what will be pasted.

FAQ:

Are HTML entities and Unicode the same thing? No. Unicode defines characters and code points. HTML character references are markup syntax that resolves to Unicode characters.

Do named references always need a semicolon? The safest answer is yes. HTML has legacy exceptions, but semicolon-terminated references are clearer and avoid ambiguous ampersands.

Why do some results show two code points? Some named references map to a character sequence rather than one scalar value. Copy the whole sequence when that is the intended output.

Glossary:

Named character reference

An HTML reference such as © that resolves by name.

Numeric character reference

An HTML reference such as © or © that resolves by code point.

Code point

The Unicode number assigned to a character.

Ambiguous ampersand

An ampersand sequence that can be parsed unexpectedly in HTML text.

References:

• WHATWG HTML named character references
• WHATWG HTML character-reference parsing rules