Editing Bracket (section)

===Uses of ( )<span class="anchor" id="Uses of parentheses"></span><span class="anchor" id="Uses of round brackets"></span>===
Parentheses contain [[adjunctive]] material that serves to clarify (in the manner of a [[gloss (annotation)|gloss]]) or is aside from the main point.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Straus |first1=Jane |author1-link=Jane Straus |last2=Kaufman |first2=Lester |title=Parentheses—Punctuation Rules |url=https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/parens.asp |work=The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation |publisher=Jossey Bass |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=19 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419025523/http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/parens.asp |url-status=live}}</ref>

A comma before or after the material can also be used, though if the sentence contains commas for other purposes, visual confusion may result. A [[dash]] before and after the material is also sometimes used.

Parentheses may be used in formal writing to add supplementary information, such as "Senator John McCain ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]&nbsp;-&nbsp;Arizona) spoke at length". They can also indicate shorthand for "[[Uncertain plural|either singular or plural]]" for nouns, e.g. "the claim(s)". It can also be used for [[gender-neutral language]], especially in languages with [[grammatical gender]], e.g. "(s)he agreed with his/her physician" (the slash in the second instance, as one alternative is replacing the other, not adding to it).

Parenthetical phrases have been used extensively in informal writing and stream of consciousness literature. Examples include the southern American author [[William Faulkner]] (see ''[[Absalom, Absalom!]]'' and [[The Sound and the Fury#Part 2: June 2, 1910|the Quentin section of ''The Sound and the Fury'']]) as well as poet [[E. E. Cummings]].

Parentheses have historically been used where the [[em dash]] is currently used in alternatives, such as "parenthesis)(parentheses". Examples of this usage can be seen in editions of ''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]''.

Parentheses may be nested (generally with one set (such as this) inside another set). This is not commonly used in formal writing (though sometimes other brackets [especially square brackets] will be used for one or more inner set of parentheses [in other words, secondary {or even tertiary} phrases can be found within the main parenthetical sentence]).

====Language====
A [[Parenthesis (rhetoric)|parenthesis in rhetoric]] and [[linguistics]] refers to the entire bracketed text, not just to the enclosing marks used (so all the text in this set of round brackets may be described as "a parenthesis").<ref>{{cite dictionary |entry=Parenthesis |dictionary=The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar |edition=2 |date=2014 |first=Bas |last=Aarts |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-191-74444-0}}</ref> Taking as an example the sentence "Mrs. Pennyfarthing (What? Yes, that was her name!) was my landlady.", the explanatory phrase between the parentheses is itself called a parenthesis. Again, the parenthesis implies that the meaning and flow of the bracketed phrase is supplemental to the rest of the text and the whole would be unchanged were the parenthesized sentences removed. The term refers to the syntax rather than the enclosure method: the same clause in the form "Mrs. Pennyfarthing{{snd}}What? Yes, that was her name!{{snd}}was my landlady" is also a parenthesis.<ref>{{cite dictionary |entry=Parenthesis |dictionary=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics |edition=3 |date=2014 |first=P. H. |last=Matthews |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-191-75306-0}}</ref> (In non-specialist usage, the term "parenthetical phrase" is more widely understood.<ref>{{cite dictionary |entry=parenthetical |entry-url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parenthetical |title=The Free Online Dictionary |access-date=13 February 2013 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606122628/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parenthetical |url-status=live}}</ref>)

In [[phonetics]], parentheses are used for indistinguishable<ref name="IPA175">IPA ''Handbook'' p.&nbsp;175</ref> or unidentified utterances. They are also seen for silent articulation (mouthing),<ref name="IPA191">IPA ''Handbook'' p.&nbsp;191</ref> where the expected phonetic transcription is derived from lip-reading, and with periods to indicate silent pauses, for example {{IPA|(...)}} or {{IPA|(2 sec)}}.

====Enumerations====
An unpaired right parenthesis is often used as part of a label in an ordered list, such as this one:
{{blockquote|<poem>
a) [[education]]al testing,
b) technical writing and diagrams,
c) [[market research]], and
d) [[elections]].</poem>}}

====Accounting====
Traditionally in [[accounting]], contra amounts are placed in parentheses. A debit balance account in a series of credit balances will have parenthesis and vice versa.

====Parentheses in mathematics====
{{Main|Glossary of mathematical symbols#Parentheses|Bracket (mathematics)}}

Parentheses are used in [[mathematical notation]] to indicate grouping, often inducing a different [[order of operations]]. For example: in the usual order of algebraic operations, {{math|4 × 3 + 2}} equals 14, since the [[multiplication]] is done before the [[addition]]. However, {{math|4 × (3 + 2)}} equals 20, because the parentheses override normal precedence, causing the addition to be done first. Some authors follow the convention in mathematical equations that, when parentheses have one level of nesting, the inner pair are parentheses and the outer pair are square brackets. Example:

{{bi|<math>[4 \times (3 + 2)]^2 = 400.</math>}}

====Parentheses in programming languages====
Parentheses are included in the syntaxes of many [[programming language]]s. Typically needed to denote an argument; to tell the compiler what data type the Method/Function needs to look for first in order to initialise. In some cases, such as in [[LISP]], parentheses are a fundamental construct of the language. They are also often used for scoping functions and operators and for arrays. In [[syntax diagram]]s they are used for grouping, such as in [[extended Backus–Naur form]].

In Mathematica and the Wolfram language, parentheses are used to indicate grouping{{snd}}for example, with pure anonymous functions.

====Taxonomy====
If it is desired to include the [[subgenus]] when giving the [[scientific name]] of an animal species or [[subspecies]], the subgenus's name is provided in parentheses between the [[generic epithet|genus name]] and the [[specific epithet]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |title=Names of subgenera |url=https://code.iczn.org/chapter-2-the-number-of-words-in-the-scientific-names-of-animals/article-6-interpolated-names/?frame=1 |website=International Code of Zoological Nomenclature |access-date=6 June 2021 |year=2012 |edition=4th |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607005720/https://code.iczn.org/chapter-2-the-number-of-words-in-the-scientific-names-of-animals/article-6-interpolated-names/?frame=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> For instance, ''Polyphylla'' (''Xerasiobia'') ''alba'' is a way to cite the species ''Polyphylla alba'' while also mentioning that it is in the subgenus ''Xerasiobia''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welter-Schultes |first1=Francisco W. |title=Guidelines for the Capture and Management of Digital Zoological Names Information |date=March 2013 |publisher=Global Biodiversity Information Facility |location=Copenhagen |isbn=9788792020444 |url=http://www.gbif.org/document/80625 |chapter=1.4.5.4 Species |pages=14–15}}</ref> There is also a convention of citing a subgenus by enclosing it in parentheses after its genus, e.g., ''Polyphylla'' (''Xerasiobia'') is a way to refer to the subgenus ''Xerasiobia'' within the genus ''Polyphylla''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welter-Schultes |first1=Francisco W. |title=Guidelines for the Capture and Management of Digital Zoological Names Information |date=March 2013 |publisher=Global Biodiversity Information Facility |location=Copenhagen |isbn=9788792020444 |url=http://www.gbif.org/document/80625 |chapter=1.4.5.3 Genera |page=14}}</ref> Parentheses are similarly used to cite a subgenus with the name of a [[prokaryotic]] species, although the [[International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes]] (ICNP) requires the use of the abbreviation "subgen". as well, e.g., ''Acetobacter'' (subgen. ''Gluconoacetobacter'') ''liquefaciens''.<ref>{{cite journal |editor1-last=Parker |editor1-first=Charles T. |editor2-last=Tindall |editor2-first=Brian J. |editor3-last=Garrity |editor3-first=George M. |title=International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes: Prokaryotic Code (2008 Revision) |journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology |date=2019 |volume=69 |issue=1A |page=S19 |doi=10.1099/ijsem.0.000778 |pmid=26596770 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Chemistry====
Parentheses are used in [[chemistry]] to denote a repeated substructure within a molecule, e.g. HC(CH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> ([[isobutane]]) or, similarly, to indicate the stoichiometry of ionic compounds with such substructures: e.g. Ca(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub> ([[calcium nitrate]]).

This is a notation that was pioneered by [[Berzelius]], who wanted chemical formulae to more resemble algebraic notation, with brackets enclosing groups that could be multiplied (e.g. in 3(AlO<sub>2</sub> + 2SO<sub>3</sub>) the 3 multiplies everything within the parentheses).{{sfn|Watts|1877|pp=140–141}}{{sfn|Ihde|1984|p=115}}

In [[chemical nomenclature]], parentheses are used to distinguish structural features and multipliers for clarity, for example in the polymer [[poly(methyl methacrylate)]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=R-0.1.5 Enclosing marks |url=https://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/93/r93_61.htm |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=ACDLabs.com |archive-date=3 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503033434/https://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/93/r93_61.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

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