In mathematics, a
square is the result of
multiplying a
number by itself. The verb "to square" is used to denote this operation. Squaring is the same as
raising to the power
2, and is denoted by a
superscript 2; for instance, the square of 3 may be written as 3
2, which is the number 9. In some cases when superscripts are not available, as for instance in
programming languages or
plain text files, the notations <kbd>
x^2</kbd> or <kbd>
x**2</kbd> may be used in place of <kbd>
x2</kbd>.