Editing At sign (section)

== Name ==
The name of the symbol arises from its original use in showing quantities and their price per unit{{snd}} for example, "10 widgets @ £1.50 each". The precise origin of the symbol is uncertain.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica |title=at sign |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/at-sign |access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref>
 
The absence of a single English word for the symbol has prompted some writers to use the [[French language|French]] ''arobase'',<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n10/daniel-soar/short-cuts |title=Short Cuts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723221838/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n10/daniel-soar/short-cuts |archive-date=2012-07-23 |first=Daniel |last=Soar |volume= 31  |number=10 |date=28 May 2009 |page=18 |journal=London Review of Books}}</ref> to coin new words such as ''ampersat''<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bits and Bytes |first=David |last=Bowen  |date=23 October 2011 |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bits-bytes-1317440.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709013247/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bits-bytes-1317440.html |archive-date=9 July 2018 |quote=… Tim Gowens offered the highly logical "ampersat" ...}}}</ref> and ''asperand'',<ref name="asperand">{{Cite news |last=Jemima Kiss |date=28 March 2010 |title=New York's Moma claims @ as a design classic |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/mar/28/moma-asperand-ray-tomlinson-design |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305004857/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/mar/28/moma-asperand-ray-tomlinson-design |url-status=live }}</ref> or the (visual) onomatopoeia ''[[strudel]]'',<ref name="FOLDOC-strudel">{{Cite web |title=strudel |url=http://foldoc.org/strudel |access-date=2014-11-21 |publisher=FOLDOC |archive-date=2014-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129145120/http://foldoc.org/strudel |url-status=live }}</ref> but none of these have achieved wide use.