jot
/dʒɒt
/verb (jots, jotting, jotted) [with object]
Write (something) quickly: when you’ve found the answers, jot them down...
- I quickly jotted it down and handed it to him, and he quickly pocketed it.
- I quickly jotted several things down in my notebook and mentally cackled.
- She then thought of some ideas, jotted them down and started to write some sentences.
Synonyms
write down, note down, make a note of, take down, set down, put down, put on paper, mark down;
log, record, list, register, enter;
scribble, scrawl
noun [usually with negative]
A very small amount: you didn’t care a jot I have yet to see one jot of evidence...
- Even the scientists who advocate for that protocol recognise that it will not make one jot of difference, even if it is fully implemented.
- I have said that the circumstances do not deserve one jot of sympathy.
- We have not heard one jot of policy from the National Party today - not one jot.
Synonyms
iota, scrap, shred, whit, grain, crumb, ounce, little bit, bit, tiniest bit, jot or tittle, fraction, speck, atom, particle, scintilla, trace, hint, mite;
any;
rap, hoot, fig;
Irish stim;
French soupçon
informal smidgen, smidge, tad, damn, tinker's cuss, monkey's
Australian/New Zealand informal skerrick
archaic scantling, scruple, smitch
Origin
Late 15th century (as a noun): via Latin from Greek iōta, the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet : see iota.
Greek iōta (ι), the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, gave us jot as a word for a very small amount—‘i’ and ‘j’ being interchangeable forms in medieval writing. To stress that someone cannot have any part of something, we might use the phrase not one jot or not one iota, which reflects the warning given by Jesus in St Matthew's Gospel that ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law’ (a tittle here is a small stroke or accent). To jot something down appeared in the early 18th century and seems to have developed from the idea of a short sharp action as in writing a jot.