diff --git a/autotests/folding/highlight.tex.fold b/autotests/folding/highlight.tex.fold
--- a/autotests/folding/highlight.tex.fold
+++ b/autotests/folding/highlight.tex.fold
@@ -260,3 +260,12 @@
 Text that has a footnote\footnote{This $i_s$ the <beginfold id='2'>\[</beginfold id='2'>i_s<endfold id='2'>\]</endfold id='2'> $<beginfold id='2'>$</beginfold id='2'>x_i<endfold id='2'>$$</endfold id='2'> \(x_i\)footnote}\addtocounter{footnote}{-1}\addtocounter{footnote}{-1} looks like this. Later text referring to same footnote\footnotemark uses the other command.
 
 <endfold id='1'>\end</endfold id='1'>{document<endfold id='1'>}</endfold id='1'>
+
+% A delimiter is not required before "\" in keywords of kind "\command" (see bug #413493)
+<beginfold id='1'>\begin</beginfold id='1'>{equation}123<endfold id='1'>\end</endfold id='1'>{equation<endfold id='1'>}</endfold id='1'>
+
+<beginfold id='1'>\begin</beginfold id='1'>{comment}Comment\end{comment<endfold id='1'>}</endfold id='1'>
+\iffalse text\fi normal text
+
+text<beginfold id='1'>\begin</beginfold id='1'>{tabular}text\end{tabular<endfold id='1'>}</endfold id='1'>
+text<beginfold id='1'>\begin</beginfold id='1'>{a}text<endfold id='1'>\end</endfold id='1'>{a<endfold id='1'>}</endfold id='1'>
diff --git a/autotests/html/highlight.tex.html b/autotests/html/highlight.tex.html
--- a/autotests/html/highlight.tex.html
+++ b/autotests/html/highlight.tex.html
@@ -266,4 +266,13 @@
 Text that has a footnote<span style="color:#644a9b;">\footnote</span>{This <span style="color:#ff5500;">$i_s$</span> the <span style="color:#ff5500;">\[i_s\]</span> <span style="color:#ff5500;">$$x_i$$</span> <span style="color:#ff5500;">\(x_i\)</span>footnote}<span style="color:#644a9b;">\addtocounter</span>{footnote}{-1}<span style="color:#644a9b;">\addtocounter</span>{footnote}{-1} looks like this. Later text referring to same footnote<span style="color:#644a9b;">\footnotemark</span> uses the other command.
 
 <span style="font-weight:bold;">\end</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">document</span>}
+
+<span style="color:#898887;">% A delimiter is not required before &quot;\&quot; in keywords of kind &quot;\command&quot; (see bug #413493)</span>
+<span style="font-weight:bold;">\begin</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">equation</span>}<span style="color:#ff5500;">123</span><span style="font-weight:bold;">\end</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">equation</span>}
+
+<span style="font-weight:bold;">\begin</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">comment</span>}<span style="color:#898887;">Comment</span><span style="font-weight:bold;">\end</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">comment</span>}
+<span style="color:#898887;">\iffalse text\fi</span> normal text
+
+text<span style="font-weight:bold;">\begin</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">tabular</span>}text<span style="font-weight:bold;">\end</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">tabular</span>}
+text<span style="font-weight:bold;">\begin</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">a</span>}text<span style="font-weight:bold;">\end</span>{<span style="color:#0095ff;font-weight:bold;">a</span>}
 </pre></body></html>
diff --git a/autotests/input/highlight.tex b/autotests/input/highlight.tex
--- a/autotests/input/highlight.tex
+++ b/autotests/input/highlight.tex
@@ -260,3 +260,12 @@
 Text that has a footnote\footnote{This $i_s$ the \[i_s\] $$x_i$$ \(x_i\)footnote}\addtocounter{footnote}{-1}\addtocounter{footnote}{-1} looks like this. Later text referring to same footnote\footnotemark uses the other command.
 
 \end{document}
+
+% A delimiter is not required before "\" in keywords of kind "\command" (see bug #413493)
+\begin{equation}123\end{equation}
+
+\begin{comment}Comment\end{comment}
+\iffalse text\fi normal text
+
+text\begin{tabular}text\end{tabular}
+text\begin{a}text\end{a}
diff --git a/autotests/reference/highlight.tex.ref b/autotests/reference/highlight.tex.ref
--- a/autotests/reference/highlight.tex.ref
+++ b/autotests/reference/highlight.tex.ref
@@ -260,3 +260,12 @@
 <Normal Text>Text that has a footnote</Normal Text><Macro>\footnote</Macro><Normal Text>{This </Normal Text><Math>$i_s$</Math><Normal Text> the </Normal Text><Math>\[i_s\]</Math><Normal Text> </Normal Text><Math>$$x_i$$</Math><Normal Text> </Normal Text><Math>\(x_i\)</Math><Normal Text>footnote}</Normal Text><Macro>\addtocounter</Macro><Normal Text>{footnote}{-1}</Normal Text><Macro>\addtocounter</Macro><Normal Text>{footnote}{-1} looks like this. Later text referring to same footnote</Normal Text><Macro>\footnotemark</Macro><Normal Text> uses the other command.</Normal Text><br/>
 <Normal Text></Normal Text><br/>
 <Structure>\end</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>document</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><br/>
+<Normal Text></Normal Text><br/>
+<Comment>% A delimiter is not required before "\" in keywords of kind "\command" (see bug #413493)</Comment><br/>
+<Structure>\begin</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>equation</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><Math>123</Math><Structure>\end</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>equation</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><br/>
+<Normal Text></Normal Text><br/>
+<Structure>\begin</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>comment</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><Comment>Comment</Comment><Structure>\end</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>comment</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><br/>
+<Comment>\iffalse text\fi</Comment><Normal Text> normal text</Normal Text><br/>
+<Normal Text></Normal Text><br/>
+<Normal Text>text</Normal Text><Structure>\begin</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>tabular</Environment><Normal Text>}text</Normal Text><Structure>\end</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>tabular</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><br/>
+<Normal Text>text</Normal Text><Structure>\begin</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>a</Environment><Normal Text>}text</Normal Text><Structure>\end</Structure><Normal Text>{</Normal Text><Environment>a</Environment><Normal Text>}</Normal Text><br/>
diff --git a/data/syntax/latex.xml b/data/syntax/latex.xml
--- a/data/syntax/latex.xml
+++ b/data/syntax/latex.xml
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@
 [
     <!ENTITY bullet "&#xd7;">
     <!ENTITY envname "[a-zA-Z]+\*?">
+    <!ENTITY regionmarker "&#037;\s*(?:BEGIN|END)">
 ]>
-<language name="LaTeX" version="9" section="Markup" kateversion="5.0" priority="10" extensions="*.tex;*.ltx;*.dtx;*.sty;*.cls;*.bbx;*.cbx;*.lbx;*.tikz;*.pgf" mimetype="text/x-tex" casesensitive="1" author="Jeroen Wijnhout (Jeroen.Wijnhout@kdemail.net)+Holger Danielsson (holger.danielsson@versanet.de)+Michel Ludwig (michel.ludwig@kdemail.net)+Thomas Braun (thomas.braun@virtuell-zuhause.de)" license="LGPL" >
+<language name="LaTeX" version="10" section="Markup" kateversion="5.0" priority="10" extensions="*.tex;*.ltx;*.dtx;*.sty;*.cls;*.bbx;*.cbx;*.lbx;*.tikz;*.pgf" mimetype="text/x-tex" casesensitive="1" author="Jeroen Wijnhout (Jeroen.Wijnhout@kdemail.net)+Holger Danielsson (holger.danielsson@versanet.de)+Michel Ludwig (michel.ludwig@kdemail.net)+Thomas Braun (thomas.braun@virtuell-zuhause.de)" license="LGPL" >
   <highlighting>
+    <!-- NOTE: Keywords of kind "\something" do not need a delimiter before "\".
+         Using a DetectChar rule with lookAhead to detect "\" at the beginning
+         avoids the requirement of the delimiter in the keyword. -->
     <list name="beginEnv">
       <item>\begin</item>
     </list>
@@ -280,7 +284,7 @@
         <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Normal Text" context="LatexMacro" lookAhead="true"/>
         <DetectChar char="$" attribute="Math" context="MathModeTex"/>
         <RegExpr String="&lt;&lt;.*&gt;&gt;=" attribute="Normal Text" context="NoWeb" column="0"/>
-        <RegExpr String="%\s*(BEGIN|END)" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
+        <RegExpr String="&regionmarker;" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
         <DetectChar char="%" attribute="Comment" context="Comment"/>
         <DetectChar char="&bullet;" attribute="Bullet" context="#stay"/>
       </context>
@@ -765,15 +769,22 @@
       <context name="MathModeEnv" attribute="Math" lineEndContext="#stay">
         <DetectSpaces/>
         <DetectIdentifier/>
-        <keyword String="beginEnv" attribute="Structure" context="FindBeginEnvironmentInMathMode" beginRegion="block"/>
-        <keyword String="endEnv" attribute="Structure" context="MathFindEnd" endRegion="block"/>
-        <keyword String="MathModeText" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="MathModeText"/>
-        <RegExpr String="\\[()\[\]]|\$" attribute="Error" context="#stay"/>
-        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="MathContrSeq"/>
-        <RegExpr String="%\s*(BEGIN|END)" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Math" context="BackslashMathModeEnv" lookAhead="true"/>
+        <DetectChar char="$" attribute="Error" context="#stay"/>
+        <RegExpr String="&regionmarker;" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
         <DetectChar char="%" attribute="Comment" context="Comment"/>
         <DetectChar char="&bullet;" attribute="Bullet" context="#stay"/>
       </context>
+      <context name="BackslashMathModeEnv" attribute="Math" lineEndContext="#pop">
+        <keyword String="beginEnv" attribute="Structure" context="#pop!FindBeginEnvironmentInMathMode" beginRegion="block"/>
+        <keyword String="endEnv" attribute="Structure" context="#pop!MathFindEnd" endRegion="block"/>
+        <keyword String="MathModeText" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="#pop!MathModeText"/>
+        <Detect2Chars char="\" char1="(" attribute="Error" context="#pop"/>
+        <Detect2Chars char="\" char1=")" attribute="Error" context="#pop"/>
+        <Detect2Chars char="\" char1="[" attribute="Error" context="#pop"/>
+        <Detect2Chars char="\" char1="]" attribute="Error" context="#pop"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="#pop!MathContrSeq"/>
+      </context>
 
       <!-- start of an environment in math mode -->
       <context name="FindBeginEnvironmentInMathMode" attribute="Normal Text" lineEndContext="#stay">
@@ -824,7 +835,7 @@
       <context name="Tab" attribute="Normal Text" lineEndContext="#stay">
         <DetectChar char="&amp;" attribute="Ampersand" context="#stay"/>
         <Detect2Chars char="@" char1="{" attribute="Column Separator" context="Column Separator"/>
-        <keyword String="endEnv" attribute="Structure" context="TabFindEnd"/>
+        <RegExpr String="\\end\b" attribute="Structure" context="TabFindEnd"/> <!-- endEnv -->
         <IncludeRules context="Normal Text" />
       </context>
 
@@ -885,14 +896,17 @@
       <context name="MathModeCommon" attribute="Math" lineEndContext="#stay">
         <DetectSpaces/>
         <DetectIdentifier/>
-        <keyword String="beginEnv" attribute="Structure" context="MathEnvironment" beginRegion="block"/>
-        <keyword String="endEnv" attribute="Structure" context="MathEnvironmentEnd" endRegion="block"/>
-        <keyword String="MathModeText" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="MathModeText" />
-        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="MathContrSeq"/>
-        <RegExpr String="%\s*(BEGIN|END)" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Math" context="BackslashMathModeCommon" lookAhead="true"/>
+        <RegExpr String="&regionmarker;" attribute="Region Marker" context="RegionComment" firstNonSpace="true"/>
         <DetectChar char="%" attribute="Comment" context="Comment"/>
         <DetectChar char="&bullet;" attribute="Bullet" context="#stay"/>
       </context>
+      <context name="BackslashMathModeCommon" attribute="Math" lineEndContext="#pop">
+        <keyword String="beginEnv" attribute="Structure" context="#pop!MathEnvironment" beginRegion="block"/>
+        <keyword String="endEnv" attribute="Structure" context="#pop!MathEnvironmentEnd" endRegion="block"/>
+        <keyword String="MathModeText" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="#pop!MathModeText" />
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Macro Mathmode" context="#pop!MathContrSeq"/>
+      </context>
       <context name="MathEnvironment" attribute="Math" lineEndContext="#stay">
         <DetectSpaces/>
         <DetectChar char="{" attribute="Normal Text" context="MathEnvironmentInside"/>
@@ -941,16 +955,24 @@
 
       <!-- iffalse aka multiline comment -->
       <context name="Multiline Comment" attribute="Comment" lineEndContext="#stay">
-        <keyword String="iffalseend" attribute="Comment" context="#pop"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Comment" context="BackslashMultilineComment" lookAhead="true"/>
+      </context>
+      <context name="BackslashMultilineComment" attribute="Comment" lineEndContext="#pop">
+        <keyword String="iffalseend" attribute="Comment" context="#pop#pop"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Comment" context="#pop"/>
       </context>
 
      <!-- comment -->
       <context name="RegionComment" attribute="Region Marker" lineEndContext="#pop"/>
       <context name="Comment" attribute="Comment" lineEndContext="#pop">
         <DetectSpaces/>
         <IncludeRules context="##Alerts" />
         <DetectIdentifier/>
-        <keyword String="ResetHL" attribute="Comment" context="Normal Text"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Comment" context="BackslashComment" lookAhead="true"/>
+      </context>
+      <context name="BackslashComment" attribute="Comment" lineEndContext="#pop">
+        <keyword String="ResetHL" attribute="Comment" context="#pop!Normal Text"/>
+        <DetectChar char="\" attribute="Comment" context="#pop"/>
       </context>
     </contexts>