Per mille
The phrase per mille (from Latin per mīlle 'in each thousand')[1] indicates parts per thousand.[2] The associated symbol is ‰, similar to a per cent sign % but with an extra zero in the divisor.
| ‰ | |
|---|---|
Per mille | |
| In Unicode | U+2030 ‰ PER MILLE SIGN (‰) |
| Related | |
| See also | U+0025 % PERCENT SIGN U+2031 ‱ PER TEN THOUSAND SIGN (Basis point) |
Major dictionaries do not agree on the spelling,[1][2][3] giving other options of per mil,[2] per mill,[1][3] permil,[1] permill,[1] permille,[4][5] or promille.[6][7]
Per mille is most commonly used in scientific and technical contexts. It should not be confused with parts per million (ppm).
Computer systems
The code point for the glyph is included in the General Punctuation block of Unicode characters: U+2030 ‰ PER MILLE SIGN.[4] It may be typed using Alt+0137, Compose%o, Ctrl+⇧ Shift+u 2030, or ⌥ Option+⇧ Shift+r according to operating system.
Note that for the compose key sequence the percent key (%) is followed by lower case letter o and not, as might be expected, by digit 0.[8]
Examples
Examples of use include:
- Legal limits of blood-alcohol content for driving a road vehicle in some countries: for example: 0.5‰ or 0.8‰.
- Seawater salinity: for example: "the average salinity is 35‰".
- Tunnel and railway gradients (in some countries in Europe).
- Birth and death rates.
- Baseball batting averages (colloquially).
- Property taxation rates: the millage rate (U.S.) or mill rate (Canada).
- Expressing stable-isotope ratios—for example: "δ13C was measured at −3.5‰".
- Fineness of precious metals.
- Cost per mille (CPM), the price of 1000 units, may be used for views of banner and display advertising, and for emails delivered by email service providers.
Related units
- Percentage point difference of 1 part in 100
- Percentage (%) 1 part in 100
- Basis point (bp) difference of 1 part in 10,000
- Permyriad (‱) 1 part in 10,000
- Per cent mille (pcm) 1 part in 100,000
See also
- Parts-per notation
- Per-unit system
- Per cent point function
- Fineness of precious metals (given as "0.000-fine")
References
- "per mil". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- "per mille". Cambridge Dictionary. Business English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
per mille adverb (also per mil)
- "per mill". Oxford Dictionaries: The American Dictionary. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
- Unicode. "General Punctuation". 2014. Accessed 5 Aug 2014.
- "per mille". Longman Business Dictionary. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
- "Promille vs BAC: the difference and how much promille is 1 BAC". AlcoSafe. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
- "Promille in English". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
- Monniaux, David. "UTF-8 (Unicode) compose sequence". Retrieved 2015-07-15.
External links
Media related to Per mille at Wikimedia Commons