The At Sign Has a Different Name in Every Language
Email is electronic mail. The @ symbol at the centre of every address has picked up vivid nicknames around the world.
Email is electronic mail, and by extension a single message. The @ sign was chosen by Ray Tomlinson in 1971 because it was on the keyboard and appeared in nobody's name, and the world then named it by what it looks like: a monkey's tail in Dutch, a little snail in Italian and French, an elephant's trunk in Danish, a dog in Russian and a rolled herring in Czech. The symbol itself is centuries older, used by merchants to mean at a price of.
- Electronic mail. *Send an email.*
- To send by email. *Email me the file.*
- @ sign β the address separator. *The at sign.*
- Inbox β where messages arrive. *A full inbox.*
- E-mail β the older hyphenated spelling. *E-mail.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | One email. | |
| Plural | emails | Ten emails. |
| Verb | Email him. | |
| Past | emailed | She emailed. |
| Older form | E-mail. |
- I'll email you the details.Verb.
- Check your email.Uncountable use.
- Tomlinson chose @ in 1971.History.
What the world calls @
- Dutch β *apenstaartje*, little monkey's tail
- Italian β *chiocciola*, snail
- Danish β *snabel-a*, elephant's-trunk a
- Russian β *sobaka*, dog
- Czech β *zavinΓ‘Δ*, a rolled pickled herring
A shortening of *electronic mail*, recorded from the early 1980s. The hyphenated *e-mail* was standard first and is now less common.
Is it email or e-mail?
Both are correct, but email without the hyphen is now the dominant form in most style guides.
Why was @ chosen for addresses?
Ray Tomlinson picked it in 1971 because it was on the keyboard and could not appear in a person's name.