Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

===Ellipses<span class="anchor" id="Ellipsis"></span><span class="anchor" id="Ellipses"></span><span class="anchor" id="..."></span><span class="anchor" id="Ellipsis style"></span><span class="anchor" id="Ellipsis function and implementation"></span>===
{{Shortcut|MOS:ELLIPSIS|MOS:ELLIPSES|MOS:DOTDOTDOT|MOS:…}}
Use an ''[[ellipsis]]'' (plural ''ellipses'') if material is omitted in the course of a quotation, unless square brackets are used to [[Gloss (annotation)|gloss]] the quotation {{crossref|pw=y|(see {{section link||Brackets and parentheses}}, and the points below)}}.

*Wikipedia's style for an ellipsis is three unspaced dots ({{xt|<code>...</code>}}); do not use the precomposed ellipsis character ({{!xt|<code>…</code>}})<!-- Possibly we should explain the precomposed character in terms of its code point or something --> or three dots separated by spaces {{nobr|({{!xt|<code>. . .</code>}})}}
*Generally, use a non-breaking space before an ellipsis, and a regular space after it: {{nobr|{{xt|<code>"Alpha, Bravo,<nowiki>{{nbsp}}</nowiki>... Zulu"</code>}}}}
**But where an ellipsis is immediately followed by any of <code>. ? ! : ; , ) ] }</code> or by a closing quotation mark (single or double), use a non-breaking space before the ellipsis, and no space after it:
**: {{xt|<code><nowiki>Jones wrote: "These stories amaze me. The facts suffer so frightfully{{nbsp}}...".</nowiki></code>}}
**: {{xt|<code><nowiki>"But what of the other cities? London, Paris{{nbsp}}...?"</nowiki></code>}} (Place terminal punctuation after an ellipsis only if it is textually important, as is often the case with exclamation marks and question marks but rarely with periods.)
**Or, if the ellipsis immediately follows a quotation mark, use no space before the ellipsis, and a non-breaking space after it:
**: {{xt|<code><nowiki>He continued to pursue Smith ("...{{nbsp}}to the ends of the earth", he had sworn) until his own death.</nowiki></code>}}
*In mathematics formulas, formatted using html or wikimarkup, use three unspaced dots rather than the precomposed ellipsis character as above. However, in LaTeX-formatted mathematics formulas, use the proper LaTeX markup for lowered dots (<code>\dots</code>, <math>\dots</math>) rather than three dots. Do not replace precomposed characters that have dots in other positions (such as centered or diagonal, ⋯, ⋰, or ⋱).
; {{visible anchor|Pause or suspension of speech}}
: Three dots are occasionally used to represent a pause in or suspense of speech, in which case the punctuation is retained in its original form: {{xt|Virginia's startled reply was "Could he&nbsp;...? No, I can't believe it!"}}. When it indicates an incomplete word, no space is used between the word fragment(s) and the ellipsis: {{xt|The garbled transmission ended with "We are stranded near San L...o", interpreted as a reference to either San Leandro or San Lorenzo.}}
; {{Anchor|Ellipses with square brackets}}With square brackets
:Square brackets may be placed around an ellipsis that indicates omitted text to distinguish it from an ellipsis that is part of the quoted text: {{xt|She retorted: "How do I feel? How do you {{em|think}} I&nbsp;... This is too much!&nbsp;[...] Take me home!"}}. In this example, the first ellipsis is part of the quoted text and the second ellipsis (in square brackets) indicates omitted text.