Ampersand

You may also be interested to know where the ‘&’ symbol on our keyboards came from and why it is called the ampersand.

Well, in medieval times the symbol derived from the French word et, meaning AND. &&&&&

It appeared on every child’s hornbook, as the 27th symbol after Z.

As children recited the alphabet, they were obliged to chant per se (Latin for `by itself’) after letters that could stand alone as a complete word.

Including ‘&’ these numbered four: ‘A per se, A’, ‘O per se, O’, ‘I per se, I’, and ‘& per se, &’.

It was not long before the drawling of ‘& per se, &’ became ampersand.