PAL

Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus

_ (the underscore) is the placeholder for exactly one character.
% (the percent sign) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character.
%% (two percent signs) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character, but not for blank space (so that a search ends at word boundaries).

At the beginning and at the end, these placeholders are superfluous.

الكرة المجسمة ‘solid sphere’

Arabic

References: Plan. Sidoli+Berggren: 114, 158, 173, 232, 269, 337, 399
Modern translations:
English: the solid sphere [Plan. Sidoli+Berggren: ?]