ampersand

The "Roman" ampersand on the left is stylised, but the "italic" one on the right is clearly similar to "et".

A mondegreen of "and per se and", meaning "and (the character) '&' by itself", which is how the symbol (&) was originally referred to in English. This formulation is due to the fact that in schools, when reciting the alphabet, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("A," "I," "O" and, at one point, "&") was preceded by the Latin expression per se (Latin for "by itself"). Also, it was common practice to add at the end of the alphabet the "&" sign, pronounced "and". Thus the end of the recitation would be: "X, Y, Z and per se and." This last phrase eventually became "ampersand", and the term crept into common English usage by around 1837.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæm.pə(ɹ).sænd/, /ˈæmp.ə(ɹ)ˌzænd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

ampersand (plural ampersands)

1. The symbol "&".

   The ampersand character in many logics acts as an operator connecting two propositions.

ampersand (third-person singular simple present ampersands, present participle ampersanding, simple past and past participle ampersanded)

1. (transitive, rare) To add an ampersand to.

• Handwritten styles
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• ampersand on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Typography

• manspread