HTML Entity for Lowercase A Macron (ā)

Beginner

5 min read

Updated: Sep 2026

1 example

Unicode U+0101

HTML Entity for lowercase a macron (U+0101) tutorial illustration

Definition

What Is the Lowercase A Macron Entity?

Lowercase a macron (ā) is the Latin Extended-A character at Unicode U+0101 (LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH MACRON). It is the letter a with a macron (¯) — often marking a long vowel in Hawaiian, Māori, Latin, and linguistics.

Remember

Character     ā
Unicode       U+0101
Named entity  &amacr;
Hex entity    &#x101;
Decimal       &#257;
CSS escape    \0101
Capital       &Amacr; (Ā)

Named, hex, decimal, CSS, and a typed character all produce the same glyph: ā. Prefer &amacr; in HTML source for clarity.

Reference

Quick Reference

One table for every form you will actually use.

Form	Code	Where it goes
Named entity	`&amacr;`	HTML markup (best default)
Hex entity	`ā`	HTML markup
Decimal entity	`ā`	HTML markup
CSS escape	`\0101`	Stylesheet `content`
Direct character	`ā`	UTF-8 HTML text

When to Use Which

Situation	Use
Readable HTML source	`&amacr;`
Numeric entity required	`ā` or `ā`
Generated text via `::before` / `::after`	`content: "\0101"`
Capital Ā	`&Amacr;` — see Uppercase A Macron
Circumflex â instead	See Lowercase A Circumflex (`â`)

See it

Live Preview

Lowercase a macron in Hawaiian, Latin, and comparison contexts.

Hawaiian sample lā

Large glyph ā

Named entity &amacr; → ā

vs a / Ā / â ā | a | Ā | â

With entities Named: ā | Hex: ā | Decimal: ā

Code

Complete HTML Example

One page that shows this character with named, hex, decimal, and CSS forms. Use View Output or open the live editor.

Named + Hex + Decimal + CSS

Four ways to produce ā in a single document.

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Lowercase A Macron (&amacr;)</title>
  <style>
    #point::after {
      content: "\0101";
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Using Named Entity: &amacr;</p>
  <p>Using Hex Code: &#x101;</p>
  <p>Using HTML Code: &#257;</p>
  <p id="point">Using CSS Entity: </p>
  <p lang="haw">Hawaiian: l&amacr;</p>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

1. Named: &amacr; is the clearest HTML form and renders ā.

2. Hex: U+0101 → ā in HTML. Same result as the named entity.

3. Decimal: same code point as 257 → ā. Same result as hex.

4. CSS: use \0101 in content (not an HTML entity). #point::after appends that ā after the paragraph text.

Pitfalls & Tips

Common mistakes when working with lowercase a macron.

Case

`&amacr;` ≠ `&Amacr;`

Named entities are case-sensitive. Lowercase is ā; uppercase is Ā.

Look-alikes

Not `â` or `ǟ`

Circumflex â and diaeresis+macron ǟ are different characters. Macron is the flat bar on ā.

Compose

Prefer precomposed

Use &amacr; instead of a plus combining macron when the precomposed form exists.

CSS vs HTML

Do not mix escapes

\0101 belongs in CSS. &amacr; / ā / ā belong in HTML.

Encoding

Declare UTF-8

If you type ā directly, keep <meta charset="UTF-8"> so the file is not misread.

Semicolon

End references

Always finish with ; — write &amacr;, not &amacr.

Compatibility

Browser Support

Lowercase a macron (U+0101) and its entity forms (&amacr;, ā, ā, CSS \\0101) are supported in all modern browsers.

✓ Universal encoding

Lowercase A Macron (&amacr;)

Encode with named, hex, decimal, or CSS escape — or type ā directly in UTF-8 HTML.

100% Browser coverage

Google Chrome Supported

Yes

Microsoft Edge Supported

Yes

Mozilla Firefox Supported

Yes

Apple Safari Supported

Yes

Opera Supported

Yes

Internet Explorer IE 9+

Yes*

U+0101 Full support

Bottom line: Prefer &amacr; for readable HTML. Use \\0101 only inside CSS content.

Remember

Key Takeaways

Unicode: this character is U+0101 (decimal 257).
HTML: prefer &amacr; — or use ā / ā.
CSS: use \0101 inside content for generated text.
Watch out: &amacr; ≠ &Amacr; ≠ â ≠ ǟ.

One line: U+0101 → &amacr; / ā / ā / CSS \0101.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I display lowercase a macron (ā) in HTML using entities?

Use &amacr; (named), ā (hex), ā (decimal), or the CSS escape \0101 in the content property. All render ā. Prefer &amacr; in HTML source.

What is the Unicode value for lowercase a macron?

U+0101 (LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH MACRON). Hex 101, decimal 257. It belongs to Latin Extended-A (U+0100–U+017F).

Is there a named HTML entity for U+0101?

Yes. &amacr; is the HTML5 named entity for ā. The capital form is &Amacr; (Ā, U+0100) — names are case-sensitive.

When should I use this HTML entity?

Use it for Hawaiian, Māori, Latin dictionaries, linguistic vowel-length notation, and other languages that need ā.

What is the difference between HTML code and CSS entity for U+0101?

HTML entities (&amacr;, ā, or ā) go in markup. The CSS escape \0101 is used in stylesheets (usually in the content property of ::before/::after). Both render ā.

Is ā the same as â or ǟ?

No. Circumflex â is â (U+00E2). Diaeresis+macron ǟ is U+01DF. Macron ā is &amacr; (U+0101) — a flat bar above the letter.

Did you know?

Lowercase a macron is Unicode U+0101 (decimal 257) — LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH MACRON in Latin Extended-A. HTML5 provides &amacr; — the most readable form. Capital is &Amacr; (Ā, U+0100). Common in Hawaiian (lā), Māori, Latin dictionaries, and linguistic vowel-length notation.

Next: Lowercase A Ogonek

Learn the HTML entity for Lowercase A Ogonek — next in this sequence.

Continue tutorial →

About the author

Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

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