Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Useful Escape Sequences

This partial list of troff escape sequences provides those that are most useful.

Sequence	Effect
\\	Prevent or delay the interpretation of \.
\e	Printable version of the current escape character (usually \).
\-	- (minus sign in the current font).
\.	Period (dot).
\ space	Unpaddable space-size space character.
\ newline	Concealed (ignored) newline.
\|	1/6-em narrow space character (zero width in nroff).
\^	1/12-em half-narrow space character (zero width in nroff).
\&	Nonprinting, zero-width character.
\"	Beginning of comment.
\$ n	Interpolate macro argument 1 ≤ n ≤ 9.
\( xx	Character named xx. See the following section “Special Characters.”
\*x or \*(xx	Interpolate string x or xx.
\fx or \f(xx or \fn	Change to font named x or xx or to position n. If x is P, return to the previous font.
\nx, \n(xx	Interpolate number register x or xx.
\n+x, \n+(xx	Interpolate number register x or xx, applying auto-increment.
\n-x, \n-(xx	Interpolate number register x or xx, applying auto-decrement.
\sn, \s±n	Change point size to n or increment by n. For example, \s0 returns to previous point size.
\s(nn, \s±(nn	Just like \s, but allow unambiguous two-character point sizes (ditroff only).
\w' string '	Interpolate width of string in basic units.