catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  commercial at
       
           "@".  ASCII code 64.  Common names: at sign, at,
          strudel.  Rare: each, vortex, whorl, INTERCAL: whirlpool,
          cyclone, snail, ape, cat, rose, cabbage, amphora.  ITU-T:
          commercial at.
       
          The @ sign is used in an electronic mail address to separate
          the local part from the hostname.
       
          It is ironic that @ has become a trendy mark of Internet
          awareness since it is a very old symbol, derived from the
          latin preposition "ad" (at).
       
          Giorgio Stabile, a professor of history in Rome, has traced
          the symbol back to the Italian Renaissance in a Roman
          mercantile document signed by Francesco Lapi on 1536-05-04.
       
          In Dutch it is called "apestaartje" (little ape-tail), in
          German "affenschwanz" (ape tail).  The French name is
          "arobase".  In Spain and Portugal it denotes a weight of about
          25 pounds, the weight and the symbol are called "arroba".
          Italians call it "chiocciola" (snail).
       
          See @-party.
       
          (2003-04-28)
       
       

  commercial at
     n.
     (synonym of en at sign)

  commercial at
     n.
     (synonym of en at sign)

  commercial at
     n.
     (synonym of en at sign)

  commercial at
     n.
     (synonym of en at sign)