Plural of symbol; objects, characters, or signs that represent ideas, concepts, or other things through conventional or cultural association. Visual or conceptual representations with meaning beyond their literal form.
From Greek 'symbolon', meaning 'token' or 'sign', literally 'thrown together' from 'syn' (together) and 'ballein' (to throw). Originally referred to broken pieces of pottery used as tokens of recognition.
The @ symbol, now ubiquitous in email addresses, was originally used by merchants in the 16th century to denote quantities, as in '12 apples @ 5 cents each'. It lay dormant for centuries until Ray Tomlinson chose it for the first email system in 1971 because it was the only preposition available on the keyboard.
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