Overscript
Details

- In a notebook, an overscript can be created using
or
.
moves out of the overscript position.
- Input of the form
in a notebook is interpreted as Overscript[x,y].
- Overscript[x,y] formats as
in StandardForm and TraditionalForm.
- In InputForm, Overscript[x,y] formats literally as Overscript[x,y].
- The baseline of Overscript[x,y] is taken to be the baseline of x.
- Overscript[x,y] is usually output with y in a smaller font than x.
Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (2)Summary of the most common use cases
Properties & Relations (1)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions
OverBar, OverHat, OverVector and OverDot are special cases of Overscript:
In[1]:=1

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https://wolfram.com/xid/0bink0le-jsv3sq
Out[1]=1

Possible Issues (1)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior
Passing an operator as a string does not allow spanning behavior:
In[1]:=1

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0bink0le-fsdpyc
Out[1]=1

Use RawBoxes to pass the raw version of the operator, which allows it to span if possible:
In[2]:=2

✖
https://wolfram.com/xid/0bink0le-dfondt
Out[2]=2

Wolfram Research (1996), Overscript, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
✖
Wolfram Research (1996), Overscript, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
Text
Wolfram Research (1996), Overscript, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
✖
Wolfram Research (1996), Overscript, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1996. "Overscript." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
✖
Wolfram Language. 1996. "Overscript." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1996). Overscript. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html
✖
Wolfram Language. (1996). Overscript. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html
BibTeX
✖
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_overscript, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Overscript}", year="1996", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html}", note=[Accessed: 08-July-2025
]}
BibLaTeX
✖
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_overscript, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Overscript}, year={1996}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Overscript.html}, note=[Accessed: 08-July-2025
]}