dot meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

DOT

nounalso spelled DOT

Abbreviation, Initialism Initialism of disodium octaborate tetrahydrate.

Video games Abbreviation, Initialism Initialism of damage over time.

Video games Broadly A weapon or ability that deals damage over time as opposed to or in addition to direct damage.

dot

noun

UK /dɒt/ · US /dɑt/

Etymology From Middle English *dot, dotte, from Old English dott (“a dot, point”), from Proto-West Germanic *dott, from Proto-Germanic *duttaz (“wisp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte (“a clump”), Dutch dot (“lump, knot, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”), dialectal Swedish dott (“a little heap, bunch, clump”).

13 senses

1A small, round spot.
2A punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a…
3A point used as a diacritical mark above or below…
4A symbol used for separating the fractional part of a…
5in musical notation, a symbol in the form of a small…
6One of the two symbols used in Morse code.
7A lump or clot.
8Anything small and like a speck comparatively; a small…
9A dot ball.
10buckshot, projectile from a "dotty" or shotgun
11Clipping of dotty (“shotgun”).
12confinement facility
13Clipping of dotfile

A small, round spot.

a dot of colour
Long stood Sir Bedivere / Revolving many memories, till the hull / Look’d one black dot against the verge of dawn / And on the mere the wailing died away.1845, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Morte d’Arthur”, in Poems, lines 269–272:

1 more example

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO A VERY SMALL DOT IN A VERY BIG UNIVERSE1914, Rowland R. Gibson, Forces Mining and Undermining China, 2nd edition, London: Andrew Melrose, →OCLC, →OL, page v:

Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviated part of a word; a full stop; a period.

The homepage of English Wiktionary is en.wiktionary.org. [read aloud: E-N-dot-wiktionary-dot-org]

A point used as a diacritical mark above or below various letters of the Latin script, as in Ȧ, Ạ, Ḅ, Ḃ, Ċ.

Mathematics, Sciences A symbol used for separating the fractional part of a decimal number from the whole part, for indicating multiplication or a scalar product, or for various other purposes.

in musical notation, a symbol in the form of a small point placed after a note, indicating that its duration is to be augmented by 50%.

One of the two symbols used in Morse code.

The alphabetical signals are made up of combinations of dots and of lines of different lengths.1838, William Hamilton, “Report on Prof. Morse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph”, in Journal of the Franklin Institute:

Obsolete A lump or clot.

Anything small and like a speck comparatively; a small portion or specimen.

a dot of a child

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Informal A dot ball.

That left 15 needed from Boult's final set. Two dots were followed by a heave over deep mid-wicket, then came the outrageous moment of fortune.2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport, London:

Multicultural London English buckshot, projectile from a "dotty" or shotgun

Can’t miss no dots Every shot let caused I’m hittin Used to bag it up in the toilet My mumsie thought I was shittin2018, “Rolling Round”, HL8 and SimpzBeatz (music), performed by Sparko of OMH:

Multicultural London English, Abbreviation, Clipping Clipping of dotty (“shotgun”).

We got rambos, glocks and dots, It takes two armed jakes to sum off the block2018 September 9, “Hide N Seek”, in C1 (lyrics), Tulse Hill Slums, from 1:06–1:09:

Multicultural London English, Rare, Slang confinement facility

The feds want me in the dot I got luck for selling them drugs But when I come out I’m still building a spot2024 March 17, “Scummy” (0:31 from the start), Trizz #Birmingham (lyrics):

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Abbreviation, Clipping Clipping of dotfile