jot

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See also: Jot and jót

English

WOTD – 9 November 2023

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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.

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

jot (plural jots)

  1. The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota.
  3. (by extension, chiefly in the negative) A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum
    He didn’t care a jot for his work.
    1. (obsolete) An instant, a moment.
  5. A brief and hurriedly written note.
    • 1920, Robert Nichols, “Sonnets to Aurelia ”, in Aurelia & Other Poems, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 29:
      "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.
Usage notes

Sense 2 (“a small, or the smallest, amount of a thing”) is chiefly used in negative contexts (for example, in the phrase “not a jot”) to mean hardly anything or nothing at all.

Derived terms
Translations
small, or the smallest, amount of a thing — see bit,‎ whit
See also

Verb

jot (third-person singular simple present jots, present participle jotting, simple past and past participle jotted)

  1. (transitive) Chiefly followed by down: to write (something) quickly; to make a brief note of (something).
    Coordinate term: scribble
    Tell me your order so I can jot it down.
    • 1827 February 12 (date written), Walter Scott, “”, in David Douglas, editor, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott , volume I, Edinburgh: David Douglas, published 1890, →OCLC, page 357:
      He mentions as certain the falsehood of a number of the assertions concerning his usage, the unhealthy state of the island, and so forth. I have jotted down his evidence elsewhere.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

The verb is possibly onomatopoeic, suggesting a jerking motion. The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

jot (third-person singular simple present jots, present participle jotting, simple past and past participle jotted)

  1. (transitive, obsolete except British, dialectal) To jerk or jolt (something); to jog.
    Synonym: bump
    • 1556, John Heywood, chapter 24, in The Spider and the Flie. , London: Tho Powell, →OCLC; republished as A[dolphus] W[illiam] Ward, editor, The Spider and the Flie.  (Publications of the Spenser Society, New Series; 6), Manchester: for the Spenser Society, 1894, →OCLC, page 110:
      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.
Derived terms

Noun

jot (plural jots)

  1. (obsolete, rare) A jerk, a jolt.
    Synonym: bump
    • 1640 (date written), H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΟΖΩΙΑ , or A Christiano-platonicall Display of Life, ”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, , Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, published 1642, →OCLC, book 2, stanza 47, page 26:
      [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.
      Jade here refers to “a horse too old to be put to work”.
    • 1653, Henry More, chapter XII, in An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: Roger Daniel, , →OCLC, book I, page 61:
      […] I ſay it is no uneven jot, to paſſe from the more faint and obſcure examples of Spermaticall life, to the more conſiderable effects of generall Motion in Mineralls, Metalls & ſundry Meteors, […]

References

  1. ^ “jot, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “jot, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “jot, v., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W Grant and D D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
  3. ^ “jot, v.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “jot, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ “jot, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
  5. ^ “jot, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

Further reading

Anagrams

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old High German guod, northern variant of guot, from Proto-Germanic *gōdaz.

Pronunciation

Adjective

jot (masculine jode, feminine and plural jot or jode, comparative besser, superlative et beste)

  1. (most of Ripuarian) good

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

From English jot.

Pronunciation

Verb

jot (Hong Kong Cantonese)

  1. to write notes of; to make a note of
    jot低 [Cantonese]  ―  zot1 dai1   ―  to jot down (something)
    jot notes [Cantonese]  ―  zot1 nuk1 si6-2   ―  to jot notes

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *jotta. Cognates include Finnish jotta and Karelian jotta.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

jot

  1. (+ indicative) that
    • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 5:
      Tuli niin, jot möö mänimmä ääree seitsemän kilometran päähä laagerist.
      So it turned out, that we went about seven kilometers away from the camp.
  2. (+ conditional) so that, in order that
    • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 46:
      Kaik lapset oktjabrenkaks, jot ei kenkää toisist jäis.
      All children as little octobrists, so that nobody of the others is left behind.
    • 2008, Сойкинский Край‎, number 7, page 1:
      Jot iƶoran keeli elis, sil pitää läätää, kirjuttaa kirjoja ja tehä grammatikkaa
      In order for the Ingrian language to live, it's necessary to speak, write books and to make use of grammar
  3. (+ 1st infinitive) to, in order to
    • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 6:
      Sitä vart, jot hyväst saavva tolkku ympäröiväst paikast, pittää tuntaa löytää pooli ja matka, tuntaa katsoa paikan plaanua.
      For this, to understand the surrounding area well, one has to be able to find the direction and the distance, to be able to look at the map of the area.

Synonyms

References

  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 105

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

Noun

jot m inan

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter j.

See also

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

Verb

jot

  1. inflection of joen:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Rayón Zoque

Noun

jot

  1. bird

Derived terms

See also

References

  • Harrison, Roy, B. de Harrison, Margaret, López Juárez, Francisco, Ordoñes, Cosme (1984) Vocabulario zoque de Rayón (Serie de diccionarios y vocabularios indígenas Mariano Silva y Aceves; 28)‎ (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 10
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