In Unicode, the symbol is U+2669 (♩).
A related symbol is the quarter rest (or crotchet rest). It denotes a silence of the same duration as a quarter note. Some describe the quarter rest as a "z joined to a c."
The note derives from the semiminima of mensural notation. The word crotchet comes from Old French crochet, meaning 'little hook', diminutive of croc, 'hook', because of the hook used on the note in black notation. However, because the hook appeared on the eighth note (or quaver) in the later white notation, the modern French term croche refers to an eighth note.
|Language||note name||rest name|
|Dutch||Kwart noot||Kwart rust|
|Greek||Tetarto (τέταρτο)||Pafsi tetartou (παύση τετάρτου)|
|Italian||semiminima||pausa di semiminima|
|Portuguese||semínima||pausa de semínima|
|Spanish||negra||silencio de negra|
The French and Spanish names for the note (both meaning "black") derive from the fact that the semiminima was the longest note to be colored in mensural white notation, which is true as well of the modern form.
The Greek names mean "quarter" (for the note) and "quarter's pause" (for the rest). In Greek, all music rests are called "pauses."