iota

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin iōta,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta), the name of the letter ι;^[4][5][6] the OED derives it directly from Greek.^[7][8] The Greek letter name is of Semitic, Phoenician origin,^{[2][9][10][11]} corresponding to the Hebrew letter yod;^{[12][6][13][5]} Klein explains the final -a by the fact that a Greek word cannot end in -t.^[6] The same Greek and Latin word gave English jot, the older form of the name in English.^[12][4][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name of the Greek letter Ι, ι: Merriam-Webster dates it to 1542,^[3] and the OED's first record is from 1607, in Edward Topsell's Historie of Foure-footed Beastes.^[7][4] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to late Middle English.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet,^[7][4] and already in Greek it was used proverbially of anything very small.^[12] The figurative sense, the least particle of something, goes back to Matthew 5:18, where Christ says that not one iota or stroke will pass from the law; the original saying must have meant the Hebrew yod, the smallest Hebrew letter, and the Greek letter served as its natural equivalent.^[15][12][7] In English this verse first produced jot, in Tyndale's translation of 1526, while Wycliffe in 1382 had written simply i.^[15] By the 17th century iota itself was used in this sense: Daniel Featley in 1636 asked whether one should pass lightly over "any iota or tittle of the Booke of God".^[15][7][4] It is used mostly with a negative, as in not one iota.^[7][10]

Timeline

• 1542 – the name of the Greek letter ι, in Merriam-Webster's dating; the OED's first record is from 1607.^[3][7]
• 1636 – figuratively, the least particle or quantity.^[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ι, ι), corresponding to Latin i.^[3][10][7]
2. A very small amount; a jot or whit, usually with a negative: Her story did not change one iota.^[3][10][7]

Word family

• iotacism

Related words

• jot
• yod
• tittle

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
15. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster