A degree symbol ° represents a nonbreaking space (Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar), which you can use to prevent words from being separated at the end of a line.
This is useful for keeping dates together (so you don't end up with September
5, 2000), as well as initials such as J. P.
V. D. Balsdon.En and em spaces (on the Special Characters tab of the Symbol dialog) are also represented by the degree symbol, but there is extra space to the left of the symbol for an en space ° and extra space both left and right for an em ° space.
Artigo contribuído por Suzanne S. Barnhill e Dave Rado.