Complex sentence: Originally, this was just another use of a superior o, abbreviating "numero", the word for "number" in several Romance languages, but it often appears in English: e.g., № 2 pencil, for "number-two pencil".
Split into simpler sentences: Originally, this was just another use of a superior o, abbreviating "numero", the word for "number" in several Romance languages. It often appears in English, for example in № 2 pencil, for "number-two pencil".