ampersand

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
4. Proto-Germanic*andi
5. Old Englishand
6. Middle Englishand
7. Englishand
8. Englishper se
9. Englishand
10. Englishand per se and
11. English todayampersand

The noun is a British regional or informal pronunciation of the phrase and per se and (literally “the & symbol by itself [representing the word] and”), which was used to distinguish the & symbol from &c. (“et cetera, etc.”) Compare other constructions such as A per se a (“A as a word by itself”; whence A-per-se), I per se I (the pronoun I), and O per se O (the particle O). The spelling ampersand is first attested in 1795: see the quotation. The verb is derived from the noun.

First known use, by meaning

• from late 18th c. The symbol &, used to represent the conjunction and or (dated) the Latin conjunction et (and).