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The Little-Known Origins of the '@' Symbol: From the Middle Ages to Email

The tiny symbol that changed global communication has a 500-year history. Discover its incredible journey from Venetian amphora to Ray Tomlinson's innovation.

Target Keywords: history of @ symbol, email origin, technology facts Reading Time: 4 minutes

The '@' symbol we use every day for email and social media is actually over 500 years old! Often considered a product of the digital age, this symbol has actually traveled through a long history and was nearly forgotten before being "rediscovered" for the digital communication revolution.

The Journey of @ Through Time

16th Century

Venetian merchants used "@" as an abbreviation for "amphora" - a unit of volume used to measure wine, oil, and grains. This symbol appeared in trade documents as a visual representation of an amphora, a jar with two handles.

1971

Ray Tomlinson, a programmer working on ARPANET (the precursor to the internet), chose the @ symbol to separate the username from the computer name in email addresses. He chose @ because this symbol was "hardly ever used" and perfectly represented the meaning of "at" in the context of email addresses: user@host.

Digital Era

With the popularity of email, the @ symbol became an icon of digital communication. The symbol was later adopted by social media platforms like Twitter to mention users (@username), expanding its use beyond email.

Historical Images of the @ Symbol

The @ symbol in a 16th-century ancient manuscript used by Venetian merchants.

Ray Tomlinson (1941-2016), inventor of using the @ symbol for email addresses.

The first typewriter that had the @ key, Underwood model from 1885.

Unique Facts About @ Around the World

Official Name

Technically, the @ symbol has the official name "commercial at" in English.

Spain

In Spain it's called "arroba", referring to a unit of weight equivalent to about 11.5 kg.

Korea

In Korea it's called "golbaengi" which means snail, due to its visual resemblance to a snail shell.

Russia

In Russia it's called "sobachka" which means "little dog," because it's thought to resemble a running dog.

Italy

In Italy it's called "chiocciola" which also means snail, similar to Korea.

Nearly Extinct

Before the digital era, the @ symbol was nearly extinct and rarely used, until it was "rediscovered" by Ray Tomlinson for email purposes.

Know Another Name for @ in Your Language?

Share your knowledge about unique names for the @ symbol in your local language or other countries you know!

This article is based on technology history research. Images are used for illustrative purposes.

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