| Character | Name(s) | Uses |
|---|
* | star, asterisk | Regular expression, glob character |
. | dot | Current directory, file/hostname delimiter |
! | bang | Negation, command history |
| | pipe | Command pipes |
/ | (forward) slash | Directory delimiter, search command |
\ | backslash | Literals, macros (never directories) |
$ | dollar | Variables, end of line |
' | tick, (single) quote | Literal strings |
` | backtick, backquote | Command substitution |
" | double quote | Semi-literal strings |
^ | caret | Negation, beginning of line |
~ | tilde, squiggle | Negation, directory shortcut |
# | hash, sharp, pound | Comments, preprocessor, substitutions |
[ ] | square brackets | Ranges |
{ } | braces, curly brackets | Statement blocks, ranges |
_ | underscore, under | Substitute for space, avoids autocomplete or space issues |