ampersand
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
ampersand /ˈampəsand/
▶noun the sign & (standing for and, as in Smith & Co., or the Latin et, as in &c.).
– origin C19: alt. of and per se and ‘& by itself is and’, chanted as an aid to learning the sign.
'ampersand' also found in these Oxford entries:
