Editing Ampersand (section)

==Etymology==
{{blockquote|text=''Ampersand'': the sign {{char|&}}; the name being a [[Corruption (linguistics)|corruption]] of 'and {{lang|la|[[per se (terminology)|per se]]}} = and'; i.e. '{{char|&}} by itself = and'. The sign derives from the scribes' [[ligature (typography)|ligature]] for the {{langx|la|et}}; in certain italic versions, the letters ''e'' and ''t'' are clearly distinguishable. |source = Geoffrey Glaister, ''Glossary of the Book''<ref name="adobe">{{cite book |last=Glaister|first=Geoffrey Ashall|author-link=Geoffrey Glaister|title=Glossary of the Book|url=https://archive.org/details/glosaryofbook0000unse|url-access=registration|year=1960|publisher=[[Allen & Unwin|George Allen & Unwin]]|location=London}} cited in {{cite web |last=Caflisch |first=Max |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113202304/https://www.adobe.com/type/topics/theampersand.html |archive-date=13 January 2013 |url=https://www.adobe.com/type/topics/theampersand.html|title=The ampersand|work=Adobe Fonts|publisher=[[Adobe Systems]]|access-date=23 December 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>}} <!-- THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE AND MUST NOT BE CHANGED IN ANY WAY -->

Traditionally in English, when spelling aloud, any letter that could also be used as a word in itself ("A", "I", and "[[Vocative case#English|O]]") was referred to by the [[Latin]] expression {{lang|la|[[:wikt:per se|per se]]}} ('by itself'), as in "''per se'' A" or "A ''per se'' A".<ref name=aglossary>{{cite book |last=Nares |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Nares |title=A Glossary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9bfivi9ti4C&pg=PA1 |access-date=1 May 2013 |year=2010 |orig-year=first published 1822 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781108035996 |page=1 |archive-date=3 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103092709/http://books.google.com/books?id=n9bfivi9ti4C&pg=PA1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=worddetective>{{cite web|url=http://www.word-detective.com/052003.html#ampersand |title=The ampersand |work=word-detective |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508140613/http://www.word-detective.com/052003.html |archive-date=8 May 2008 }}</ref><ref name=merriam-webster>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0043-ampersand.htm|title=The Ampersand & More|work=merriam-webster|access-date=14 November 2012|archive-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328143150/http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0043-ampersand.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The character &, when used by itself as opposed to more extended forms such as ''&c.'', was similarly referred to as "and ''per se'' and".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ainger|first=Alfred|date=2 December 1871|title=Amperzand|journal=[[Notes and Queries]]|series=4|volume=8|page=468}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Douglas R.|date=20 September 2022|title=ampersand|work=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/ampersand|accessdate=5 August 2023}}</ref> This last phrase was routinely slurred to "ampersand", and the term had entered common English usage by 1837.<ref name=worddetective/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hotword.dictionary.com/ampersand/|title=What character was removed from the alphabet but is still used every day?|date=2 September 2011|work=The Hot Word|publisher=Dictionary.com|access-date=4 September 2011|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927003303/http://hotword.dictionary.com/ampersand/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{OED|ampersand}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

It has been [[false etymology|falsely claimed]] that [[André-Marie Ampère]] used the symbol in his widely read publications and that people began calling the new shape "Ampère's and".<ref>For examples of this misunderstanding, see [[Jessie Bedford]], Elizabeth Godfrey: [https://books.google.com/books?id=AL0KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22 English Children in the Olden Time, page 22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220010619/https://books.google.com/books?id=AL0KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22 |date=20 February 2017 }}. Methuen & co, 1907, p. 22; Harry Alfred Long: [https://books.google.com/books?id=AWgSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98 Personal and Family Names, page 98] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219220525/https://books.google.com/books?id=AWgSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98 |date=19 February 2017 }}. Hamilton, Adams & co, 1883.</ref>