The Surprisingly Ancient History of The @ Symbol

Every day, we use “@“ to send emails, tag our friends on social media posts, and log in to countless domains. Over the past 30 years, this symbol has worked its way into everyday life. But this symbol is actually far older than you may think. It dates back nearly 1,500 years and making it one of the oldest symbols still in regular use today. 

The symbol first appeared in medieval manuscripts as a shorthand written by Latin-speaking scribes. They used it to represent the word ad, meaning "to" or "toward." It saved time and space when writing by hand, an early example of analog efficiency. Over the centuries, it evolved in style, eventually becoming the curled "a" wrapped in a tail that we know and use today. 

By the 16th century, @ had found new use in growing Renaissance commerce. European merchants, particularly in Spain and Italy, used it to denote units of measurement, specifically, the “arroba,” a weight-based unit used in trade. You might see something like “4 barrels @ 25 ducats,” meaning 4 barrels at 25 ducats each. The symbol made its way onto typewriters by the late 1800s. It spent most of its existence there as a dusty, unused key. 

In 1971, how we use and think of @ changed forever.  Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson, working on ARPANET, the early form of the internet, was figuring out how to send messages between computers. He needed a symbol to separate the user's name from the machine’s name. Looking at the keyboard and sitting quietly was the rarely used @. It was the perfect fit, and with that decision, email was born, and the @ symbol became a digital super key we know today.  

Quite the journey. From a medieval scribble to a Renaissance trade tool to a symbol used by billions as part of their digital identity. 

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