Multiplication is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addition, subtraction, and division. The result of a multiplication operation is called a product.
4 × 5 = 20. The large rectangle is made up of 20 squares, each 1 unit by 1 unit.
The Educated Monkey—a tin toy dated 1918, used as a multiplication "calculator". For example: set the monkey's feet to 4 and 9, and get the product—36—in its hands.
The asterisk, from Late Latin asteriscus, from Ancient Greek ἀστερίσκος, asteriskos, "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
The asteriskos used in an early Greek papyrus.
Asterisks used to illustrate a section break in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland