IOTA
nounEtymology Acronym of interest on trust account.
- Hyponyms
- IOLA, IOLTA
iota
nounalso spelled IOTAUK /aɪˈəʊtə/ · US /aɪˈoʊtə/
Etymology From Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *yad- (“hand”). Doublet of jot and yodh. Sense “jot, small quantity” in reference to a phrase in the New Testament: ”one iote or one title, shall in no wise passe from the law”, iota being the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet.
1
The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ι, ι).
- As a Greek numeral, iota represents ten.
- There are twelve iotas on that page.
1 more example
- Human ill-nature needs but some Homoiousian iota, or even the pretence of one; and will flow copiously through the eye of a needle: thus always must mortals go jargoning and fuming […].1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (Varennes):
2
The Latin letter Ɩ (minuscule: ɩ).
3
In the negative A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.
- They never depart an iota from the authentic formulas of tyranny and usurpation.1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
- His expression had not changed one iota except perhaps for an additional tightening of his lips.1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 99:
2 more examples
- [E]very iota of its gravitic power.1982, John Cleve, Spaceways #7: The Manhuntress, page xviii. 194:
- It was because Sanchez didn't have an iota of faith in what he was saying.2019 August 26, qntm, “Unthreaded”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2024:
- Derived terms
- iota adscript, iotacism, iota subscript