dot English · revision 10314

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ang dott}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɒt/, /dɑt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|dott|t=speck, head of a boil]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word recorded only once in Old English,^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) perhaps related to Dutch dot, a knot, tuft, Norwegian dott, a lump, wisp, and Old High German tutta, nipple, and to Old English dyttan, to stop up.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its reappearance in the 16th century may be due to Dutch dot,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and Etymonline suggests that the modern word may instead imitate the mark of a touch with the pen.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The head of a boil: about 1000, the only Old English example.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is not found in Middle English and reappears in 1530 meaning a small lump or clot.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) A minute spot is from 1674,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and a small roundish mark made with a pen from 1748;^(OED 1989) it was not common until the 18th century.^(Etymonline) The verb, to mark with dots, is from 1740,^(Etymonline) to scatter with small objects by 1818,^(Etymonline) and to dot the letter i by 1833.^(Etymonline) ''To a dot'', exactly, is from 1728,^(OED 1989) ''the year dot'', very long ago, from 1895,^(OED 1989) and ''on the dot'', from the dot marking the hour on a clock face, from 1909.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Dotted line'' is by the 1690s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – the head of a boil.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1530 – a small lump.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1674 – a minute spot.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1740 – to mark with dots (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1748 – a mark made with a pen.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1895 – the year dot.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1909 – on the dot.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small round mark or [[spot]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Such a mark used in writing, as above the letter i or as a decimal point.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A tiny amount.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The short signal in Morse code.^(AHD)

+ # ''(music)'' A mark after a note that increases its length by half.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To mark with a dot or dots.^(AHD)

+ # To scatter or cover with dots or small objects: ''a hillside dotted with houses''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dotter]]

+ * [[dotlike]]

+ * [[microdot]]

+ * [[underdot]]

+ * [[dot-com]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dotted]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dot, a dowry, is a separate word, from French, from Latin dōs, dōtis (1855).^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD) In Scots and English dialect a dot was a small person or thing.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}