Numbers

Q. When working with technical material, what symbol should I use between dimensions? For instance, in CMOS 3.27, the following example has a symbol that doesn’t seem to match either a multiplication symbol or a lowercase x, and the symbol is elevated above the baseline: “Oil on canvas, 45 × 38 cm.” What is that symbol called, and where is it discussed in the Manual?

A. The symbol is indeed a multiplication sign (Unicode 00D7; please see CMOS table 12.1); the appearance of symbols can vary according to typeface.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]