censorship symbol; placeholder character
A symbol (e.g., ○, ×, 〓, ※) used in place of a word that cannot be printed, often for legal, privacy, or editorial reasons. Common in newspapers, books, and online text.
turn (in typesetting); upside-down character
In traditional typesetting, a character placed upside down to indicate a correction or a placeholder; later printed as 〓. Rare outside historical printing contexts.
In the newspaper article, a censorship symbol was used instead of the real name.
In this book, all discriminatory terms are replaced with placeholder characters.
In letterpress printing, an upside-down character was sometimes inserted as a placeholder during proofreading.
Common spelling using okurigana; clearer for learners.
Kanji-only spelling; also common but may be less transparent.
Compound of 伏せ (fuse, 'to hide' or 'to cover') + 字 (ji, 'character'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term likely arose in the context of printing and publishing to describe characters used to conceal text.