An ampersand is the symbol “&” that means “and.” You see it in company names like Barnes & Noble or Ben & Jerry's, where it connects two words more compactly than spelling out “and.”

The symbol comes from combining the letters E and T from the Latin word et, which means “and.” If you look closely at an ampersand, especially in fancy fonts, you can sometimes still see the ghost of those letters twisted together.

People use ampersands to save space or create a visual style. A business card might say “Smith & Sons” instead of “Smith and Sons.” The ampersand appears frequently in titles, signs, and logos because it looks distinctive and professional. In formal writing like essays or reports, though, it's better to spell out “and” unless you're writing a company name that officially includes an ampersand.