The at sign , @ , is normally read aloud as "at"; it is also commonly called the at symbol or commercial at . It is used as an accounting and invoice abbreviation meaning "at a rate of" (e.g. 7 widgets @ £ 2 = £14), but it is now most commonly used in email addresses and social media platform " handles ".
History:-
Whatever the origin of the @ symbol, the history of its usage is more well-known: it has long been used in Spanish and Portuguese as an abbreviation of arroba , a unit of weight equivalent to 25 pounds, and derived from the Arabic expression of "the quarter" ( ﺍﻟﺮﺑﻊ pronounced ar-rubʿ ). An Italian academic claims to have traced the @ symbol to the 16th century, in a mercantile document sent by Florentine Francesco Lapi from Seville to Rome on May 4, 1536. The document is about commerce with Pizarro , in particular the price of an @ of wine in Peru. In Italian, the symbol was interpreted to mean amphora ( anfora ). Currently, the word arroba means both the at-symbol and a unit of weight. In Italian, the symbol represents one amphora, a unit of weight and volume based upon the capacity of the standard amphora jar.
Until now the first historical document containing a symbol resembling a @ as a commercial one is the Spanish "Taula de Ariza", a registry to denote a wheat shipment from Castile to Aragon in 1448; even though the oldest fully developed modern @ sign is the one found on the above-mentioned Florentine letter.
History:-
Whatever the origin of the @ symbol, the history of its usage is more well-known: it has long been used in Spanish and Portuguese as an abbreviation of arroba , a unit of weight equivalent to 25 pounds, and derived from the Arabic expression of "the quarter" ( ﺍﻟﺮﺑﻊ pronounced ar-rubʿ ). An Italian academic claims to have traced the @ symbol to the 16th century, in a mercantile document sent by Florentine Francesco Lapi from Seville to Rome on May 4, 1536. The document is about commerce with Pizarro , in particular the price of an @ of wine in Peru. In Italian, the symbol was interpreted to mean amphora ( anfora ). Currently, the word arroba means both the at-symbol and a unit of weight. In Italian, the symbol represents one amphora, a unit of weight and volume based upon the capacity of the standard amphora jar.
Until now the first historical document containing a symbol resembling a @ as a commercial one is the Spanish "Taula de Ariza", a registry to denote a wheat shipment from Castile to Aragon in 1448; even though the oldest fully developed modern @ sign is the one found on the above-mentioned Florentine letter.
