While the ampersand symbol, oftentimes used as the word “and” in writing, is just some mishmash of swirling loops, it actually looks like that for a reason. The swirling loops make up the letters “et”, which was the Latin word for “and”. When a symbol is formed out of two or more letters, it is officially known as a “ligature”. Since the ampersand is made up of the letters “E” and “T”, it is a ligature.