n. The symbol (#). [Coined in the 1960s by researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories : OCTO- (probably in reference to the eight endpoints of the lines in the symbol) + -thorpe (perhaps from THORP, in reference to the resemblance of the symbol to a village surrounded by fields, or after James Francis Thorpe, because one of the researchers was an advocate of the restoration of Thorpe's Olympic medals).] |
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