Editing At sign (section)

== History ==
[[File:19-manasses-chronicle.jpg|180px|thumb|@ symbol used as the initial "a" for the "amin" (amen) formula in the Bulgarian 
 of the Manasses Chronicle, {{c.|1345}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.slav.2/0145 |title=Vat.slav.2, f. 62r |via=[[Vatican Library]] |access-date=2022-11-14 |archive-date=2022-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114160351/https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.slav.2/0145 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Ariza1448-2.jpg|180px|thumb|The [[Aragonese people|Aragonese]] @ symbol used in the 1448 ''"taula de Ariza"'' registry to denote a wheat shipment from [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] to the [[Kingdom of Aragon]].<ref name="TaulaDeAriza1448">{{Cite web |title=La arroba no es de Sevilla (ni de Italia) |url=http://www.purnas.com/2009/06/30/la-arroba-no-es-de-sevilla-ni-de-italia |access-date=2009-06-30 |website=purnas.com |publisher=Jorge Romance |archive-date=2019-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022012805/http://www.purnas.com/2009/06/30/la-arroba-no-es-de-sevilla-ni-de-italia |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:1674 liten.jpg|180px|thumb|@ used to signify French "{{lang|fr|à}}" ("at") from a 1674 protocol from a [[Sweden|Swedish]] court ({{lang|sv|[[Arboga]] rådhusrätt och magistrat}})]]
The earliest yet discovered symbol in this shape is found in a [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] translation of a [[Greek language|Greek]] chronicle written by [[Constantine Manasses|Constantinos Manasses]] in 1345. Held today in the Vatican Apostolic Library, it features the @ symbol in place of the capital letter [[alpha]] "Α" as an [[initial]] in the word Amen; however, the reason behind it being used in this context is still unknown. The evolution of the symbol as used today is not recorded.

It has long been used in [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] as an abbreviation of ''[[arroba]]'', a unit of weight equivalent to 25 pounds, and derived from the [[Arabic]] expression of "the quarter" ({{lang|ar|الربع}} pronounced ''ar-rubʿ'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=arroba |url=http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=arroba |access-date=3 August 2012 |website=Diccionario de la Real Academia Española |archive-date=29 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029023131/http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=arroba |url-status=live }}</ref> A symbol resembling an @ is found in the Spanish "Taula de Ariza", a registry to denote a wheat shipment from Castile to Aragon, in 1448.<ref name="guardian 20000731" /> The historian Giorgio Stabile claims to have traced the @ symbol to the 16th century, in a mercantile document sent by [[Florence|Florentine]] Francesco Lapi from [[Seville]] to [[Rome]] on May 4, 1536.<ref name="guardian 20000731">{{Cite news |last=Willan |first=Philip |date=2000-07-31 |title=Merchant@Florence Wrote It First 500 Years Ago |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,3604,348744,00.html |access-date=2010-04-25 |archive-date=2022-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126032007/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2000/jul/31/internetnews.internationalnews |url-status=live }}</ref> The document is about commerce with [[Pizarro]], in particular the price of an @ of wine in [[Peru]]. Currently, the word ''arroba'' means both the at-symbol and a unit of weight. In [[Venetian language|Venetian]], the symbol was interpreted to mean [[amphora]] ({{lang|it|anfora}}), a unit of weight and volume based upon the capacity of the standard amphora jar since the 6th century. It could also mean “adi” (standard Italian “addì”, i. e. ‘on the day of’) as used on a health pass in Northern Italy in 1667.<ref>[https://geschichte-s-h.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Mitteilungen-100.pdf] Jürgen Beyer, ‘Gesundheitspässe und Impfatteste’, ''Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte. Mitteilungen'' 100 (2021), 21–29, reproduction on p. 26.</ref>