HTML Entity for Lowercase E Grave (è)

Beginner
⏱️ 5 min read
📚 Updated: Jun 2026
🎯 1 Code Example
Unicode U+00E8
HTML Entity for Lowercase E Grave tutorial illustration

What You'll Learn

How to display the lowercase e with grave accent (è) in HTML using named entity, hexadecimal, decimal, and CSS escape methods. This character is U+00E8 in the Latin-1 Supplement block and is essential for French, Italian, and other languages.

Render it with è, è, è, or CSS escape \00E8. The named entity è is often the most readable option in HTML source.

⚡ Quick Reference — Lowercase E Grave Entity

Unicode U+00E8

Latin-1 Supplement

Hex Code è

Hexadecimal reference

HTML Code è

Decimal reference

Named Entity è

Most readable option

Reference Table
Name           Value
────────────   ──────────
Unicode        U+00E8
Hex code       è
HTML code      è
Named entity   è
CSS code       \00E8
Meaning        Latin small letter e with grave
Related        U+00C8 = È (uppercase)
Block          Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
1

Complete HTML Example

A simple example showing the lowercase e grave (è) using hexadecimal code, decimal HTML code, the named entity, and a CSS content escape:

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
 <style>
  #point:after{
   content: "\00E8";
  }
 </style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Symbol (hex): &#xE8;</p>
<p>Symbol (decimal): &#232;</p>
<p>Symbol (named): &egrave;</p>
<p id="point">Symbol (CSS): </p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself

🌐 Browser Support

The lowercase e grave (è) and the named entity &egrave; are universally supported in modern browsers:

Chrome1+
Firefox1+
Safari1+
Edge12+
Opera4+
Android4.4+
iOS Safari1+

👀 Live Preview

See the lowercase e grave (è) in language and content contexts:

Large glyphè
Frenchmère, après, très
Italianè, caffè, perché
Not the same asé (acute) or ȅ (double grave)
Named entity&egrave; renders as è
Numeric refs&#xE8; &#232; &egrave; \00E8

🧠 How It Works

1

Hexadecimal Code

&#xE8; uses the Unicode hexadecimal value E8 to display the character. The x prefix indicates hexadecimal format.

HTML markup
2

Decimal HTML Code

&#232; uses the decimal Unicode value 232 to display the same character. A common method for Latin-1 characters.

HTML markup
3

Named Entity

&egrave; is the standard named entity for è—readable in source HTML and part of the HTML Latin-1 entity set.

HTML markup
4

CSS Entity

\00E8 is used in CSS stylesheets, particularly in the content property of pseudo-elements like ::before and ::after.

CSS stylesheet
=

Same visual result

All four methods produce the glyph: è. Unicode U+00E8 sits in Latin-1 Supplement. Uppercase equivalent: U+00C8 (&Egrave;). Do not confuse with é (acute) or ȅ (double grave).

✅

Use Cases

The lowercase e grave (è) is commonly used in:

🇫🇷 French Content

Essential in words like mère, après, and très for correct French spelling.

🇮🇹 Italian

Used in è, caffè, and perché for proper Italian orthography.

🌐 Multilingual Websites

International and localized content that must display accented characters correctly.

📝 Proper names

Names of people, places, and brands that include è in French or Italian spelling.

🔤 Language learning

Courses, dictionaries, and educational materials teaching grave-accented letters.

📄 Publishing

Articles, blogs, and published content quoting French and Italian words.

🔍 Search & SEO

Correct spelling improves screen reader pronunciation and search indexing (e.g. mère vs mere).

💡 Best Practices

Do

  • Use &egrave; in HTML when possible for readability
  • Serve pages as UTF-8; you can also type è directly in UTF-8 source
  • Set lang attributes (e.g. lang="fr", lang="it") for correct pronunciation
  • Use fonts that support Latin-1 Supplement characters
  • Distinguish è (grave) from é (acute) and ȅ (double grave)

Don’t

  • Substitute plain e when è is required for correct spelling
  • Confuse è (grave) with é (acute)—meaning can change in French and Italian
  • Put CSS escape \00E8 in HTML text nodes
  • Assume all fonts render accented Latin-1 glyphs identically
  • Omit UTF-8 encoding on pages with accented characters

Key Takeaways

1

Four references render è; named entity is most readable

&#xE8; &#232; &egrave;
2

For CSS stylesheets, use the escape in the content property

\00E8
3

Unicode U+00E8 — LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE

4

Essential for French, Italian, and i18n content

5

Previous: Lowercase E Double Grave (ȅ)   Next: Lowercase E Inverted Breve

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Use &egrave; (named), &#xE8; (hex), &#232; (decimal), or \00E8 in CSS content. The named entity &egrave; is the most readable for HTML content.
U+00E8 (LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE). Latin-1 Supplement block. Hex E8, decimal 232. Used in French, Italian, and other languages.
When writing words in French (e.g. mère, après), Italian (e.g. è, caffè), and other languages that use this character, plus proper names and internationalized web content.
HTML code (&#232; or &#xE8;) or the named entity &egrave; is used in HTML content. The CSS entity (\00E8) is used in CSS, e.g. in the content property of pseudo-elements. Both produce è but in different contexts.
Yes. The named HTML entity is &egrave;. It is part of the standard HTML Latin-1 entity set and is well supported. You can also use &#232; or &#xE8; for numeric references.

Explore More HTML Entities!

Discover 1500+ HTML character references — accented letters, symbols, and more.

All HTML Entities →

About the author

Mari Selvan M P
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.

AWS Certified Developer – Associate (Credly)

8 people found this page helpful

Lowercase E Double Grave (ȅ) Lowercase E Inverted Breve