| ampersand (&) |
| Definition: The ampersand (&) is a phonogram that stands for the conjunction and. |
| Example: Love & marriage goes together like a horse & carriage. |
| 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 …. |
| 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." |
| OED: The word's first OED citation is from 1837: "He has hardly learned what Ampersand means, afore they give him a horse." (Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 399) |