iota

Forms

iōta n^[1] A feminine iōta, -ae is found from Ausonius on.^[2][3][4] Medieval spellings include yota, yotha and iotha.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta), the name of the Greek letter.^[6][1][3] Its further origin is unclear;^[7] Köbler refers to the name of the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero (81–43 BC) has it in De oratore: someone imitating Cotta's broad pronunciation is said to drop the letter iota and say a very full e (ut iota litteram tollas).^[2][4][7]

Semantic evolution

Martial uses it as the smallest of letters, telling a reader who would rather have the second book be the first to take one iota from its title.^[4][2] In Latin verse the word has two syllables, in Greek three.^[2][4] Ausonius treats it as a feminine, and the Old Latin Bible has iota una in Matthew 5:18.^[4][2]

Medieval writers used it also as the numeral ten and, after the Gospel passage, for the slightest portion, a jot.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of dropping the letter iota.^[2][7]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it as the smallest letter.^[2][4][7]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius treats it as a feminine noun.^[2][3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. iota, the letter Ι, ι of the Greek alphabet.^[6][2]
2. (figurative) The least part, a jot.^[8][9][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) The numeral ten.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson