&

See also: -&, , and Appendix:Variations of "et"

& U+0026, &
AMPERSAND
%
[U+0025]
Basic Latin '
[U+0027]

Translingual

Alternative forms

There is a great deal of variation in this character; fonts often make it distinctive as an identifying feature of the font. Common variants include 🙵 and 🙰.

Apart from the CJK variants, additional Unicode characters are intended for backward compatibility with Wingdings fonts.

Glyph origin

A stylized form of Latin et (and). Romans used such symbols (ligatures) from at least the first century C.E., but the character may not have acquired its present form until the advent of calligraphy in the Middle Ages. Compare and +, of same meaning and similar derivation.

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. Abbreviation of English and
    Synonym:

Symbol

& (English symbol name ampersand)

  1. (programming) Used in some programming languages for different purposes.
    1. Used to dereference memory address.
    2. Used to represent the binary operator "and".
      Synonyms: AND, &&,
      1 & 0 = 0
  2. (networking) In a URL, separates each field-value pair of a query string.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Wiktionary:Word_of_the_day&action=view&useskin=monobook
  3. (Internet slang, subculture) Used to represent multiplicity.

Derived terms

See also

English

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Latin &

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. Abbreviation of and.
    • 2011, David Almond, The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean, Candlewick Press, published 2014, →ISBN, page 121:
      “Welcum to McCaufreys, Billy Dean” he says. “Make yorself at home & hav a pie.”
  2. (dated) Abbreviation of et.

Derived terms

Translations

Catalan

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of i

Esperanto

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of kaj

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /e/
  • Audio (France (Vosges)); et commercial:(file)
  • Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):(file)

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of et

Italian

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of e or ed
  2. (dated) abbreviation of et

Japanese

Particle

&(アンド) • (ando (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of アンド

Latin

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of et
    • 1772, Finnur Jónsson, chapter 1, in Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ [The Ecclesiastical History of Iceland]‎[1], volume 1, Copenhagen: Orphanotrophius Regii, section 1, page 1:
      Nam Schalholtum, ſedes epiſcopalis, in meridionali Islandia, jacet ſub gradu 64. & aliqvot min.
      [nam Schalholtum, sēdēs epīscopālis, in merīdiōnālī Īslandiā, jacet sub gradū 64. & aliquot mīn.]
      For Skálholt, the episcopal see in southern Iceland, lies at 64 degrees & a few minutes.

Derived terms

Portuguese

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of e

Spanish

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. (archaic except in English contexts) abbreviation of y or e

Swedish

Conjunction

& (siglum)

  1. abbreviation of och
    Synonym:

Derived terms

  • &c. (etc.)