It is revered by typographers. And without it what would we call our law firms or ad agencies? It’s probably the second most popular tattoo of millennial hipsters after the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. And as anyone graduating with a degree in English will tell you, “I didn’t learn much in college, but I do know that this—&—is called an ampersand!”
But have you ever wondered why?
Etymology of ‘&’
The & symbol (referred to as an ‘ampersand‘ by some, or just ‘the and symbol’ by others) is a typographic ligature of the letters e and t which together form et (the Latin word for ‘and’). Depending on the font, the symbol may look more or less like ‘et’.
Etymology of ‘Ampersand’
Ok, so if & is just a fancy way of writing et, then where, you ask, does the name ampersand come from? Well that’s actually a lot more fun:
Clearly, by the 1880s the word ampersand was in wide usage. It had already become a euphemism for ass in the United States (because the symbol comes at the ass-end of the alphabet).1 And Ampersand Mountain—located in the Adirondack region of New York state—was so named in the 1870s because the nearby creek “is such a crooked stream, so bent and curved and twisted upon itself…that its first explorers christened it after the eccentric supernumerary of the alphabet which appears in the old spelling-books as &.”2
But how exactly did that word come to be associated with the symbol? Well, one Machester city resident wonder just that in their local newspaper:
“I did not know until the other day that ‘Ampersand’ is the name of the sign ‘&’ which we often use for ‘and.’ I have sought for the word in several dictionaries, but have not been able to find it. Can any of your readers tell me why it is named ‘Ampersand?’3
And in reply, one E Nixon had this to say:
“This word originated in the manner in which children were formally taught to spell. It is a corruption of and-per-se-and—which is that the character ‘&’ standing by itself (per se) spells ‘and.'”4
So yeah. For a while the last letter of the alphabet used to be &. So when kids sung their ABCs, they would say X, Y, Z and per se and. Eventually, the words became slurred (much like how kids today say “elemeno”) and “and per se and” morphed into ampersand.
The Alphabet
But when did an informal slurring of words morph into a new coinage? Well, it’s clear that by the 1820s kids were already starting to refer to the symbol as an ampersand. But it was frowned upon by academics and teachers.
In Noah Webster’s 1824 publication, The American Spelling Book; Containing the Rudiments of the English Language for the Schools in the United States—or, put more simply, Webster’s Spelling Book—he places & at the end of the alphabet. But as the footnote reads, “This is not a letter, but a character standing for and. Children therefore should be taught to call it and; not and-per-se.” 5
Interestingly, Webster clearly places & as a part of the alphabet, but not a ‘letter’ per se. Even the reference to Ampersand Mountain above refers to ampersand as a “supernumerary of the alphabet”—supernumerary meaning, “not enumerated among the regular components of a group”. 6
And even Charles Bradlee’s 1835 classic, “The ABC”, does not include & in its lyrics. The song ended in 1835 just as it does now with, “W, X, Y and Z. Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you sing with me?”7
- Barrére, Albert and Leland, Charles G | pg 36-37 | A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant | 1887
- Van Dyke, Henry J | pg 217-18 | “Ampersand” | Harper’s New Monthly Magazine | Nov 1885
- H.E. | “Ampersand” | pg 194 | Queries | Manchester City News | 24 Dec 1881
- Nixon, E | “Ampersand” | pg 197 | Comments and Answers | Manchester City News | 31 Dec 1881
- Webster, Noah | The American Spelling Book; Containing the Rudiments of the English Language for the Schools in the United States | 1824
- ‘supernumerary‘ | Mirriam-Webster’
- Bradlee, Charles | “The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte” | 1835