# Making asterisk look like a Kleene star [duplicate]

When I type `*` or `\ast` in LaTeX, it looks like this:

When I see other papers involving "Kleene closure", the asterisk looks like:

How do I obtain the second symbol? Searching for "Kleene star" or "Kleene closure" didn't yield any results.

EDIT:

The `\ast` symbol is overridden by the mnsymbol library. How can I tell it to use the default symbol but still keep the rest of the package for its other symbols?

• Usually you get the second symbol by `\ast`. What else you are loading? – user11232 Sep 24 '15 at 3:18
• Welcome to TeX.SX! The one you see really isn't the default. I think the default is the one you want. You must be using a different font or something like that, we really need to see what your set up is to be able to help you. Could you provide a really simple Minimal Working Example (MWE) meta.tex.stackexchange.com/questions/228/… – Au101 Sep 24 '15 at 3:18
• Also check out `\textasteriskcentered`; then check out (it's on CTAN) The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List. – jon Sep 24 '15 at 3:21
• Your \ast is from the mnsymbol package. – John Kormylo Sep 24 '15 at 3:32
• @ChaseMeadors You have discovered why I usually discourage from loading `MnSymbol` just because it has more symbols available: it changes all of them! If your text font has a six pointed asterisk, it makes no sense at all that the math one is five pointed. See Importing a single symbol from a different font and several other threads on the subject. In other words, you're asking the wrong question: the real one is “how can I import (list of symbols) from `MnSymbol`?” – egreg Sep 24 '15 at 7:32