France has decided that the “@” symbol will be called, in French, the “arobase”.

Though universally used by French Internet users, the word “arobase” is a neologism and needed the imprimatur of the General Committee on Terminology, which published its approval in the government’s official bulletin. According to the committee, the word “arobase” comes from “arrobe” - itself a derivative of the Arabic “ar-rub” meaning a quarter - which was an ancient Spanish and Portuguese unit of capacity and weight.

The committee, which five years ago failed to have the word “mel” adopted instead of e-mail, also approved three other terms Monday: “anneau de site” for Web ring, “site” for Web site, and “portail” for portal.

(I’m coming to this one late, and got it thanks to the Reason web site!)