- published: 27 Aug 2006
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Guillemets (/ˈɡɪləmɛt/, or /ɡiːəˈmeɪ/; French: [ɡijmɛ]), also called angle quotes, Latin quotation marks, or French quotation marks, are polylines pointed like arrows (« or »), sometimes forming a complementary set of punctuation marks used as a form of quotation mark.
The symbol at either end—double « and » or single ‹ and ›—is a guillemet. They are used in a number of languages to indicate speech. They resemble the symbols for lesser than (<), greater than (>), as well as rewind and fast forward on various media players, such as VCRs, DVD players, and MP3 players.
The word is a diminutive of the French name Guillaume (the equivalent in English being William), after the French printer and punchcutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–98). Some languages derive their word for guillemets analogously: The Irish term is Liamóg, from Liam 'William' and a diminutive suffix.
Guillemets are used pointing outwards («like this») to indicate speech in these languages and regions: