Widely recognized by almost all PDF readers and word processors.
Not intended for body text or creative design; it is strictly a "utility" font.
Historically, Symbolmt-normal used a custom character mapping mechanism rather than standard Unicode. In early computing, systems were limited to 256 character slots (ASCII/Extended ASCII). To display a Greek alpha, software mapped the character to the slot normally occupied by the lowercase Latin "a" (ASCII code 97).
: Because it's a standard system font, using it ensures that symbols don't turn into "junk" characters when you send a file to someone else. How to "Pair" It Symbolmt-normal Font
If you need help resolving a specific technical issue with this font, please let me know:
According to the official Microsoft Typography documentation, the Symbol MT font contains "Times New Roman Greek capitals and lowercase, figures and basic punctuation together with a collection of mathematical signs and general purpose Pi characters". This makes it a crucial tool for setting mathematical and scientific work. The font first rose to prominence as part of the and Windows systems in the 1990s. Back then, if you wanted to print a document with a square root symbol or a Greek letter that wasn't garbled, you needed SymbolMT-Normal.
| Code Point (Hex) | Symbolmt-normal Glyph | Standard Unicode Equivalent | | --- | --- | --- | | 0x61 | α (alpha) | U+03B1 | | 0x62 | β (beta) | U+03B2 | | 0x70 | π (pi) | U+03C0 | | 0x53 | Σ (Sigma) | U+03A3 | | 0xD0 | ≈ (approx) | U+2248 | | 0xFA | √ (radical) | U+221A | Widely recognized by almost all PDF readers and
is a TrueType font designed by Monotype that maps basic ASCII characters to a specialized set of symbols, including Greek letters, mathematical operators, and punctuation marks. It is essentially the PostScript name for the common "Symbol" font found on Windows systems (symbol.ttf). Font Name: SymbolMT Style: Normal/Regular Creator: Monotype
A widely used OpenType font for LaTeX documents.
The font is not a conventional TrueType or OpenType font intended for general typing. Instead, it is a specialized symbolic font often associated with MathType (design by Design Science, now part of Wiris) and equation editors in legacy software environments like Microsoft Word, CorelDRAW, and certain PDF generators. In early computing, systems were limited to 256
If you are looking to use "SymbolMT-Normal" in a social media post (like Facebook or Instagram), keep in mind: Direct Support:
To fix this, you generally don't need to buy a new font; most modern operating systems include a version of the Symbol font. Simply ensuring your document "embeds all fonts" when saving as a PDF will typically solve the display issues for your readers. Conclusion
The Hidden Workhorse: Understanding the SymbolMT-Normal Font