ampersand

American  

[am-per-sand, am-per-sand] / ˈæm pərˌsænd, ˌæm pərˈsænd /

noun

• ampersands
  plural

1. a character or symbol (& or ) for and .

   Smith & Jones, Inc.

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ampersand British  

/ ˈæmpəˌsænd /

noun

1. the character (&), meaning and

   John Brown & Co

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ampersand Cultural  

1. A symbol (see also symbol) for and (&), as in Dun & Bradstreet.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ampersands
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ampersand

1820–30; contraction of and per se and literally, (the symbol) & by itself (stands for) and; see per se

Explanation

An ampersand is a shorthand symbol for "and." It looks like this: & . People often use an ampersand when they want to save space — like when they're writing on Twitter or trying to come up with a cool company logo. The symbol comes from ancient Roman times and can be seen in really old Pompeiian graffiti. The word ampersand is a mix of Latin and English and a condensed version of the phrase "and per se and," which means "(the character) '&' by itself is 'and'."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ampersand ampersands

Cheech & Chong — the version joined by an ampersand in our collective consciousness — are gone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025

The Craft & Folk Art Museum lost an ampersand but gained a new identity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023

The only thing missing is the word “Mercantile” and an ampersand to complete this Brooklyn-chic vibe.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022

Not everyone is fond of retiring the ampersand, though.

From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2021

Entities are shown starting with an ampersand "&" and ending with a semi-colon ";" : for example, — is the representation of an em-dash.

From The Project Gutenberg FAQ 2002 by Tinsley, Jim

It’s both a hoot and a bit of a slog — a “Fast & Furious” movie, more or less, but with more ampersands and fewer series regulars than usual.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2019

Those little thought bubbles filled with ampersands and exclamation points and number signs.

From Slate ● Apr. 3, 2019

If you have a personal Wi-Fi network, make sure that you password-protect access, and use long passwords that include special characters, such as ampersands and exclamation marks.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2018

His handwriting was small, and he used ampersands and abbreviations.

From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2015

She was at it all week for more than eight hours a day, until her back and neck ached, and ragged curls of unfurling ampersands swam across her vision.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan