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Ampersand - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Ampersand : (noun)
1: a punctuation mark (&) used to represent conjunction (and)
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Ampersand : \Am"per*sand\, n. [A corruption of and, per se and, i.
e., & by itself makes and.]
A word used to describe the character ?, ?, or &.
--Halliwell.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Ampersand :
"&" ASCII character 38.
Common names: ITU-T, INTERCAL: ampersand; amper; and.
Rare: address (from C); reference (from C__); bitand;
background (from sh); pretzel; amp.
A common symbol for "and", used as the "address of" operator
in C, the "reference" operator in C__ and a bitwise
AND operator in several programming languages.
UNIX shells use the character to indicate that a task
should be run in the background.
The ampersand is a ligature (combination) of the cursive
letters "e" and "t", invented in 63 BC by Marcus Tirus [Tiro?]
as shorthand for the Latin word for "and", "et".
The word ampersand is a conflation (combination) of "and, per
se and". Per se means "by itself", and so the phrase
translates to "&, standing by itself, means 'and'". This was
at the end of the alphabet as it was recited by children in
old English schools. The words ran together and were
associated with "&". The "ampersand" spelling dates from
1837.
Take our word for it
http://www.takeourword.com/Issue010.html)">(http://www.takeourword.com/Issue010.html).
(2000-10-28)
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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