Not all operators are symbols. Some are written as words. One example is the typeof operator, which produces a string value naming the type of the value you give it.
console.log(typeof 4.5)
// → number
console.log(typeof “x”)
// → string
We will use console.log in example code to indicate that we want to see the result of evaluating something. More about that in the next chapter.
The other operators shown all operated on two values, but typeof takes only one. Operators that use two values are called binary operators, while those that take one are called unary operators. The minus operator can be used both as a binary operator and as a unary operator.
console.log(- (10 – 2))
// → -8
Source: Haverbeke Marijn (2018), Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming,
No Starch Press; 3rd edition.