ampersand

Definition:

The symbol (&) representing the word and. In formal writing, the ampersand is primarily used in the names of some companies, such as "Johnson & Johnson."

Etymology:

Alteration of and per se and. The symbol is a combination (or ligature) of the letters in et, Latin for "and."

Examples and Observations:

• Abercrombie & Fitch
• A.G. Edwards & Sons
• AT&T
• Barnes & Noble
• Bausch & Lomb
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Black & Decker
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Burt & Associates
• The College of William & Mary
• Dun & Bradstreet
• EconOffice Products & Supplies
• Ernst & Young
• Gould & Lamb
• Hudson & Keyse
• John Wiley & Sons
• Litle & Co.
• Marley & Me (film)
• Merck & Co.
• Procter & Gamble
• Saatchi & Saatchi
• Simon & Schuster
• Standard & Poor's
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
• Turner & Hooch (film)

"The name 'ampersand' . . . comes from the practice once common in schools of reciting all 26 letters of the alphabet plus the '&' sign, pronounced 'and,' which was considered part of the alphabet, at least for learning purposes.

"Any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ('A,' 'I,' '&' and, at one point, 'O') was preceded in the recitation by the Latin phrase 'per se' ('by itself') to draw the students' attention to that fact. Thus the end of this daily ritual would go: 'X, Y, Z and per se and.' This last phrase was routinely slurred to 'ampersand' by children rightly bored to tears, and the term crept into common English usage by around 1837."
(Evan Morris, "Et All O' Youse," The Word Detective, May 20, 2003)

"The symbol is a favorite of law and architecture firms, and is invaluable in parsing screenplay credits. . . . A good rule of thumb is that the more ampersands in the credits, the crummier the movie."
(Ben Yagoda, When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, Broadway Books, 2007)

Pronunciation: AM-per-sand