plus-minus sign

Meanings

1. the symbol ±, meaning "plus or minus", used to indicate the precision of an approximation (as in "The result is 10 ± 0.3", meaning the result is anywhere in the inclusive range from 9.7 to 10.3), or as a convenient shorthand for a quantity with two possible values of opposing sign and identical magnitude (as in "The roots of the equation x²-4=0 are ±2").