Iotas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A very small amount or a tiny bit, often used to emphasize insignificance or minimal presence
2. A reference to something that is negligible or trivial in the grand scheme of things
3. A unit of measurement representing the smallest conceivable quantity, often employed in discussions of degree or extent

Etymology: The Greek letter iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and that small size is what gave English its word for a tiny amount. The letter's name comes from the Greek "iôta," which traces back to a Semitic word for "hand," a link that runs through the Phoenician alphabet, where the letter's ancestor represented a sound and shape descended from a hand-related sign. The English sense of "small quantity" comes from the New Testament. In the King James Version of 1611, Matthew 5:18 reads that "one iote or one title, shall in no wise passe from the law." Here "iote" is the letter itself, and the phrase became a proverbial way of saying that not even the smallest detail would be lost. Over time the letter's name was detached from the alphabet and used on its own to mean a jot or the least possible amount, which is how it came to describe the smallest conceivable quantity in discussions of degree or extent.