A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1500, 1558-1650
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Jot(t, Jote, Joit, n.1 Also: joyt, joate. [e.m.E. ioate, iote (1538) and iot(t (1526), ad. L. iōta.] The least letter of any writing; the least part or point of anything; a whit, a tittle, a jot. (Usu. with negative.)(a) ?a1500 Remembrance of the Passion 602.
Bot thair is nocht a iot forȝet in Goddis sicht 1562-3 Winȝet I. 71/21.
That we sall nocht adhere to ane iot in religioun, except we schaw the samin expressit in Scriptuir 1573 Satirical Poems xl. 323.
Let nouther lufe of friend nor feir of fais Mufe ȝow to … hald bak Ane iot of ȝour commission ony wayis 1596 Dalr. II. 226/34.
In the leist iot or iimp tha neuer brak the Papes authoritie 1635 Dickson Wr. 14.
We cannot win by him a jot(b) 1562-3 Winȝet I. 25/34.
To maling in ane iote aganis the knawin veritie 1562-3 Ib. II. 18/1.
And ȝit al the haeretikis out of hel dow nocht correct iustli a iote hierin a1605 Montg. Ch. & Slae 773 (Wr.).
My custome is for to declare The truth, and neither eke nor paire For any man a ioate a1605 Id. Sonn. xxi. 7.
Suppose ȝe say ȝe jump not in a jote a1650 Row App. iii. 545.
Befor I brake my word in a jote to you(c) 1558-66 Knox I. 17.
The fear of that cruell death could [not] move him a joit to swarve from the trewth 1558-66 Ib. 107.
Yf, in any joyt, he sufferred the authoritie of the Pape to be violated 1573 Davidson Satirical Poems xl. 152.
He … did not iouk ane ioit from vprichtnes
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"Jot n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/jott_n_1>
