| ampersand (&) |
| Definition - The ampersand (&) is a phonogram that stands for the conjunction and. |
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Example - Love & marriage goes together like a horse & carriage. |
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Usage: 1. Don't use it in place of the word and in formal writing. Four score & twenty years ago … (bad) 2. Don't put spaces around an ampersand when it is used within an initialism. R&D 3. Do put spaces around an ampersand when it is used in a company name. Smith & Co. 4. Use it to cite sources within the flow of the text. The alternative view (Smith & Jones, 2007) states that …. |
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Etymology - The symbol was coined as a ligature of the Latin word et, and. Note: The word ampersand was coined as a contraction of and per se and, meaning "& by itself = and." |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1837: "He has hardly learned what Ampersand means, afore they give him a horse." (Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 399) |