ampersand

Meaning

Noun

The symbol "&".

Verb

To add an ampersand to.

Synonyms

and sign

Translations

esperluette

et commercial

Et-Zeichen

perluète

ampersand

e comercial

esperluète

e commerciale

Und-Zeichen

ampersand

et

y comercial

συμπλεκτικό σύμβολο

et

kaufmännisches Und

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæm.pə(ɹ).sænd/

Etymology

A mondegreen of and per se and, ⟨&⟩ being read as “and”. Letters used by themselves were formerly mentioned according to this pattern, as in “O per se O” for the particle O or “I per se I” for the pronoun I. “And per se and” thus meant ⟨&⟩ by itself, as opposed to forms such as &c.
The specific form ampersand is first attested in 1795, originally as a mocking pronunciation spelling, but this name for the symbol is attested since 1777 (as ampuse and), when it is already called common (see quotations).