What is the name of the symbol @

At

To be clearer, I'll use it in a sentence.

He threw the ball at the wall.

@ = at symbol. It's used in numerous different cases. For example, online people will say something like the following:

@mountainwalker: Welcome to our forum.

In this case it means that my message is addressed to you.

Thanks for information but I would like to know what the symbol is called- equivalent to the symbol & which is called an AMPERSAND

Here's the Wikipedia article about it:

At sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@)

The @ symbol is known by various names in English, including "at sign","at the rate", "at symbol", "at mark", "commercial at" or "ampersat".

In Italian, the symbol is informally called the "snail" (chiocciola); its French name is "arobase" or sometimes "arrobe" or "arobe" (from the arroba, an old Spanish and Portuguese unit of weight); in Dutch it is called the "(little) monkey-tail" (apenstaartje); in Hebrew, it is informally called Strudel ("שטרודל"); in Japanese it is the "at mark", and similarly, in German it is called the "at symbol" or "spider monkey" (Klammeraffe); and in Chinese, it is known as the "little mouse". In Spanish and Portuguese it is the symbol for arroba, an archaic unit of weight, and in some Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries it is still pronounced this way, even when related to an email address.

In Russian, the symbol is informally called the "dog" (sobaka (собака)) or "doggie" (sobachka (собачка)). The Finnish sometimes call the symbol "miukumauku" (meow meow) owing to the symbol's resemblance to a cat and its tail. In Bulgarian it is called "maimunka (маймунка)," "little monkey" and in Polish, it is called "małpa," meaning "monkey," for its resemblance to a monkey with its arm extended over its head.

In Swedish and Danish the sign is known as the "snabel-a" (literally trunk a), owning to the resemblance between the sign and the trunk of an elephant. In Norwegian the term most commonly used is "krøllalfa" (literally: curled alpha). In Greek the sign is known as "papaki" (παπάκι) meaning small duck. In Slovenian, the most common word for it is "afna", colloquially meaning "monkey", much like in Polish. In Hungarian, it is called "kukac" meaning "worm". In Czech and Slovak, it is called "zavináč" meaning "rollmop".

Thanks- however I cannot believe the English language does not have a precise word for this symbol- further investigation is required.

Nope, it's simply called an AT symbol. Don't drive yourself mad.

Wikipedia says ampersat is one word used to describe that symbol.

Wikipedia says ampersat is one word used to describe that symbol.

Before computers back when we chisled in stone tablets that was the correct name for that symbol. After online chatrooms started getting popular is when the "at" took on the symbols name. Just like when email came out. When you say it aloud you would say email AT provider dot (org net com)