A brief history of the ampersand
Originally published at K & Co.. Please leave any comments there.
The term ampersand, as Geoffrey Glaister writes in his “Glossary of the Book,” is a corruption of and (&) per se and, which literally means “(the character) & by itself (is the word) and.” The symbol & is derived from the ligature of ET or et, which is the Latin word for “and.”
Adobe feeds my habit. Check out this piece on the glorious ampersand, which delighted me whilst working late this evening.