First attested in Artis Analyticae Praxis ad Aequationes Algebraicas Resolvendas by Thomas Harriot, published posthumously in 1631. The symbols do not appear as such in Harriot's own manuscripts and may have been simplified in printing from the symbols that do show in the manuscripts, which resemble animal horns or funnels.
(editorial mark) The counter-diple, a mark in the right margin used together with > in the left margin to note important passages in a text, such as biblical quotations. (See > <.) With the advent of moveable type, these marks were moved into the text, becoming the guillemets› ‹.
See < > for uses of these symbols enclosing other characters.
