jot
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jot¹
- /d͡ʒɒt/ UK
- [d͡ʒɔʔ] Multicultural London English
- /d͡ʒɑt/ US
Rhymes with -ɒt
Where it comes from
The noun is borrowed from Latin iōta (“the letter iota of the Ancient Greek alphabet”), from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta, “ninth letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet; (figurative) very small part of writing, jot”), from Phoenician 𐤉 (y, “tenth letter of the Phoenician abjad, yodh”). Doublet of iota and yodh.
Etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“brief and hurriedly written note”) is derived from the verb.
The verb is probably borrowed from Scots jot, from English jot (noun): see above.
noun jots
- The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota. This bond doth giue thee here no iote of blood, / The vvords expreſly are a pound of fleſh: / Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of fleſh, / But in the cutting of it, if thou doſt ſhed / One drop of Chriſtian blood, thy lands and goods / Are by the lavves of Venice, confiſcate / Vnto the State
-
A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit.
He didn’t care a jot for his work.
Similar: ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb, glimpse, dab, damn
-
An instant, a moment.
So vveake my povvres, ſo ſore my vvounds appeare, / that vvonder is hovv I ſhould liue a iot, / ſeeing my hart through launched euery vvhere / vvith thouſand arrovves, vvhich your eies haue ſhot: […]
Similar: ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit, crumb, glimpse, dab, damn
- A brief and hurriedly written note. "Lover," you say; "how beautiful that is, / That little word!” […] / Yes, it is beautiful. I have marked it long, / Long in my dusty head its jot secreted, / Yet my heart never knew this word a song / Till in the night softly by you repeated.
verb jots · jotting · jotted
- Chiefly followed by down: to write (something) quickly; to make a brief note of (something). Tell me your order so I can jot it down.
jot²
- /d͡ʒɒt/ UK
- [d͡ʒɔʔ] Multicultural London English
- /d͡ʒɑt/ US
Rhymes with -ɒt
Where it comes from
The verb is possibly onomatopoeic, suggesting a jerking motion. The noun is derived from the verb.
verb jots · jotting · jotted
-
To jerk or jolt (something); to jog.
Nowe is iuſte iuſtice, ſo iotted out of iointe, / That ye here vniuſtely, ſtande at deniall, / To do me iuſtice, and wolde by power ryall: / Directe mine acquitall or condemnacion, / Euen as wyll in both: weith your acceptacion.
Similar: bump
noun jots
-
A jerk, a jolt.
[F]requent jot / Of his hard ſetting jade did ſo confound / The vvords that he by papyr-ſtealth had got, / That their loſt ſenſe the youngſter could not ſound, / Though he vvith mimical attention did abound.
Similar: bump
Translations
Every language
noun smallest letter or stroke of any writing — see also iota
| Español | jota, pizca |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | わずか wazuka |
| 中文 | 少量的 |
| Italiano | punto |
| Ελληνικά | γιώτα gióta |
| Русский | йо́та jóta |
| Tiếng Việt | chút, tí tẹo, tí teo |
| עברית | קוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹד qotzó shel yod |
verb to write (something) quickly
| 中文 | 速记 sùjì |
|---|---|
| Português | rabiscar |
| Français | noter au brouillon |
| Deutsch | schnell hinschreiben, kurz notieren |
| Русский | черка́ть impf or чёркать čerkátʹ, черкну́ть čerknútʹ, набра́сывать nabrásyvatʹ, наброса́ть nabrosátʹ |
Talk about this word "jot." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/jot. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. jot. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/jot "jot." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/jot.Cite this
@misc{jot_2026,
title = {jot},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/jot},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
