ampersand English · revision 1126

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæmpəsænd/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæmpəɹˌsænd/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of ''and per se and'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) meaning “(the character) & by itself (is the word) ''and''”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a phrase partly in Latin and partly in English.^(Etymonline) Latin ''per se'' “by itself” was formerly used in naming letters that formed a word on their own, as ''A per se A''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The name of the sign & (1797 in Etymonline; 1835 in Merriam-Webster; 1837 in Barnhart and the OED).^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An earlier colloquial form was ''ampassy'' (1706).^(Etymonline) In old schoolbooks the sign was printed at the end of the alphabet, so by the 1880s ''ampersand'' was also slang for the backside.^(Etymonline) The sign itself is based on Latin ''et'' “and”, written as a ligature in a Roman shorthand found in graffiti at Pompeii.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1706 – ''ampassy''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1797 – ''ampersand'' (Etymonline; 1837 in Barnhart and the OED).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880s – slang, the posterior.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The character ''&'', standing for the word ''and''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[per se]]

+ * [[et cetera]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary notes that ''ampersand'' is the name of the symbol, and that when ''&'' appears in a text it is read simply as ''and''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}