An asterisk (*), is a typographical symbol or glyph. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (Latin astrum). Computer scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as star (as, for example, in the A* search algorithm or C* algebra).
The asterisk derives from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth. The original shape was six-armed, each arm like a teardrop shooting from the center. For this reason, in some computer circles it is called a splat, perhaps due to the "squashed-bug" appearance of the asterisk on many early line printers.
The Unicode standard states that the asterisk is distinct from the Arabic five pointed star (U+066D), the asterisk operator (U+2217), and the heavy asterisk (U+2731).
Many cultures have their own unique version of the asterisk. In Japan a character with a similar use looks like an X with dots surrounding it. This mark looks like the Chinese character for rice: 米. The Arabic asterisk is six-pointed. In some fonts the asterisk is five-pointed and the Arabic star is eight-pointed.