A precomposed character (alternatively decomposable character) is a Unicode entity that can be decomposed into a canonically equivalent string of several other characters. Typically, a precomposed character is decomposed into to the main character and a combining diacritical mark.

On most computer systems with incomplete Unicode support, the precomposed characters are easier to handle, and also they look better on displays and in print.

See also

• canonical equivalence
• canonical decomposition

Unicode