Iota

Iota

Iota (uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; _el. Ιώτα IPA| [jɒta] Yota) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 10. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh (.

Iota represents IPA2|/i/. In ancient Greek it occurred in both long IPA| [i:] and short IPA| [i] versions, but this distinction has been lost in Modern Greek.

Iota participated as the second element in falling diphthongs, with both long and short vowels as the first element. Where the first element was long, the iota was lost in pronunciation at an early date, and was written in polytonic orthography as iota subscript in other words as a very small ι under the main vowel, for instance Unicode|ᾼ ᾳ ῌ ῃ ῼ ῳ

Common English phrase

The word is used in a common English phrase, 'not one iota of difference', to signify a meaningless distinction (lit. "not even a small difference"). The phrase derives from the introduction to the Antithesis of the Law in the Gospel of Matthew ("a jot or a tittle"), and became common in the theological debate which caused the convening of the First Council of Nicaea, regarding the nature of the Holy Trinity. The argument centered on which of two alternative Greek words, differing only in a single 'iota' letter, should be used in describing Jesus' relationship to the Holy Trinity. One word, 'homoousios', would mean that Jesus was of the "same" substance as God the Father, and the other 'homoiousios', would mean that Jesus was of "similar" substance. This distinction separated the Arians, who believed the latter, from the main body of Christianity, and led to their ultimate condemnation as heretics.Also, a legendary figure unique to the Xi chapter.

Symbol

* The Iota symbol is used to generate a vector of consecutive integers in the APL programming language.
* The lowercase Iota symbol is sometimes used to write the imaginary unit but more often Roman i or j are used.
* In logic, the lowercase iota denotes the definite descriptor.


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  • iota — iota …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • iota — [ jɔta ] n. m. inv. • XIIIe; gr. iôta ♦ Neuvième lettre de l alphabet grec, la plus petite de toutes, qui correspond à notre i. ♢ Loc. Copier un texte sans changer un iota, sans rien changer. Ne pas bouger d un iota : ne pas bouger du tout. ●… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Iota — I*o ta, n. [L., fr. Gr. iw^ta. See {Jot}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet ([iota]) corresponding with the English i. [1913 Webster] 2. [from iota being the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.] A very small quantity or …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • iotă — IÓTĂ s.f. (pop. şi fam.; în expr.) (Nici) o iotă = deloc, câtuşi de puţin, nimic. – Din ngr. ióta. cf. fr., it. i o t a. Trimis de gall, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  iótă s …   Dicționar Român

  • Iota — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom.  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Iota latin ou Yotta. Iota, est un lettre de l alphabet grec. Iota (casques), est le nom d un fabriquant de casques de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • iota — IOTA. s. m. La neuviéme lettre de l Alphabet Grec & la plus simple de toutes. Ce mot en nostre langue ne s employe que dans certaines phrases. Voila un ouvrage parfait, il n y manque pas un iota. il n y a pas un iota à retrancher. je n oublieray… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • IOTA — steht für: Intra European Organisation of Tax Administrations, ein zwischenstaatlicher Verbund Islands on the Air, ein Amateurfunkdiplom Programm Iota steht für: Iota (Majuskel Ι, Minuskel ι), der 9. Buchstabe des griechischen Aplphabets …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Iota — puede ser: La palabra Iota describe una letra del alfabeto griego: Véase Ι. La abreviación IOTA describe la Intra European Organisation of Tax Administrations: Véase Organisación Intra Europea de Administración Fiscal. Esta página de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • iota — ióta (literă grecească) s. f., pl. ióta; ι, Ι Trimis de gall, 24.01.2008. Sursa: DOOM 2  ióta (literă a alfabetului grecesc) s.n. (invar.) Trimis de gall, 24.01.2008. Sursa: DMLR …   Dicționar Român

  • Iota — Iota, LA U.S. town in Louisiana Population (2000): 1376 Housing Units (2000): 583 Land area (2000): 1.269242 sq. miles (3.287321 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.269242 sq. miles (3.287321 sq.… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

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