title: What does the caret (^) character mean in Git?
body: <p>I saw an <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/953481/restore-a-deleted-file-in-a-git-repo/1113140#1113140">answer to a question</a> here that helps restore a deleted file in git.</p>
  
  <p>The solution was</p>
  
  <pre><code>git checkout &lt;deleting_commit&gt;^ -- &lt;deleted_file_path&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What does the caret character (<code>^</code>) do? I’ve seen it elsewhere doing very useful things in git. It’s magical. Someone please spoil it for me and tell me what it does?</p>