rule

lars@lemmy.sdf.org to 196@lemmy.blahaj.zone – 168 points –

a translation of @euphoric_cat’s illegible post

12

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Um actually…

Latin: per centum

Italian per cento

Abbreviated to p. cento

Then just pc with a loop for the o in cento

Then the fraction bar came around to sub for per, the c became a circle, and % was born.

(Most of this after the adoption of Arabic numerals)

The c became a circle is nonsense. The two circles in % denote the two zeros in 100, as they denote the three zeros in thousand/per mille: ‰.

I would tend to agree that it’s likely an aspect of the reasoning for the double circle; a visual pun. I don’t know enough to dispute the Wikipedia article with evidence, however.

If that is the reasoning, I wish they would’ve done something less ambiguous, like -/c or over-lined 100.