Definition of IOTA

Iota and Jot

The words iota and jot share a lot more than just a common meaning—both ultimately derive from the same word. When Latin scholars transcribed the Greek name of the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, they spelled it as either iota or jota (the letters i and j were simply variants of each other), and these spellings eventually passed into English as iota and jot. Since the Greek letter iota is the smallest letter of its alphabet, both words eventually came to be used in reference to very small things.

Examples of iota in a Sentence

there's not an iota of doubt regarding the defendant's guilt

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile the environment hasn’t been helped one iota. — WSJ, "Well-Sited Wind Towers Make Good Sense," 11 Feb. 2019 Not a single Republican member of Congress has expressed the slightest iota of interest in hearing from Trump’s accusers, looking into their accusations in any way, or otherwise seeking to find the truth of the matter. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Just look at Bill Shine and Donald Trump.," 24 Sep. 2018 Not that these carbon taxes would make an iota of a difference according to the IPCC’s models. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The U.N.’s Doomsday Climate Clock," 15 Oct. 2018 And the party is fun and relaxing—beer is for sale, and there are card games and live music—but, honestly, the power of Ii-Epstein's fine play wouldn't be diminished one iota if the party were cut. — Jack Helbig, Chicago Reader, "Not One Batu feels torn directly from life," 5 July 2018 Once installed, a child seat impinges on only the last iota of front-seat travel for taller drivers. — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "2018 Honda Fit," 19 Jan. 2018 That kind of underlying approach to our gender doesn’t seem to me to have changed an iota. — Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, "Glenda Jackson, 82, on Sexism, Earning Your Wrinkles, and Cynthia Nixon's Run for Governor," 9 May 2018 Each iota of desire comes with the consequence of pain, and being a woman had me like a Hungry Ghost. — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "Pretty Girls Turned Hungry Ghosts," 27 Feb. 2018 This is also her first solo show in Los Angeles, and there’s not one iota of stage fright here. — Vogue, "In L.A., Rachel Feinstein Finds Inspiration in the Victoria's Secret Runway Show," 13 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'iota.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.