universal character encoding

noun
UK /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːsl ˈkærəktər ɪnˈkəʊdɪŋ/
US /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsl ˈkærəktər ɪnˈkoʊdɪŋ/

A way for computers to store and show letters and symbols from all the world's languages.

Thanks to universal character encoding, the same file can display English, Chinese, and Arabic text correctly.

SYNONYMS

Unicodecharacter settext encodingcode point system

RELATED WORDS

UTF-8glyphfontlocalizationASCII

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A standard that assigns a unique number to every character used in writing systems worldwide.

The universal character encoding standard includes over 140,000 characters.

3. A system that lets different computers and programs exchange text without losing or garbling symbols.

Universal character encoding prevents emoji from turning into question marks when sent between devices.

4. The practice of representing all human scripts in a single consistent digital format.

Universal character encoding made it possible to build websites that serve readers in dozens of languages.