"=", ASCII character 61. Common names: ITU-T: equals gets takes. Rare: quadrathorpe INTERCAL: half-mesh. Equals is uSED in many languages as the assignment operator though earlier languages uSED ":=" ("becomes equal to") to avoid upsetting mathematicians with statements such as "x = x+1". It is also uSED in compounds such as "<=", ">=", "==", "/=", "!=" for various comparison operators and in C' s "+=", "*=" etc. which mimic the primitive operations of two-address code. (1995-03-29)