Dot

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: dŏt, IPA: /dÉ’t/
• US enPR: dät, IPA: /dÉ‘t/
• Rhymes: -É’t

From Middle English *dot, from Old English dott ("a dot, point"), from Proto-Germanic *duttaz ("wisp"). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte ("a clump"), Dutch dot ("lump, knot, clod"), Low German Dutte ("a plug"), Swedish dialectal dott ("a little heap, bunch, clump").

Full definition of dot

Noun

1. A small spot.a dot of colour
2. (grammar) A punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviated part of a word; a full stop; a period.
3. A diacritical mark comprised of a small opaque circle above or below any of various letters of the Latin script. Examples include: Ȧ, Ạ, Ḅ, Ḃ, Ċ, etc.
4. (mathematics) A symbol used for separating the fractional part of a decimal number from the whole part, for indicating multiplication or a scalar product, or for various other purposes.
5. One of the two symbols used in Morse code.
6. (obsolete) A lump or clot.
7. Anything small and like a speck comparatively; a small portion or specimen.a dot of a child
8. (cricket, informal) A dot ball.

Synonyms

• (small spot) speck, spot
• (at the end of a sentence or abbreviation) full stop British, period US, point
• (as a diacritic) tittle over the letters i and j
• (mathematics, in a decimal) decimal point
• (in Morse code) dit

Derived terms

Verb

1. (transitive) To cover with small spots (of some liquid).His jacket was dotted with splashes of paint.
2. (transitive) To add a dot (the symbol) or dots to.Dot your is and cross your ts.
3. To mark by means of dots or small spots.to dot a line
4. To mark or diversify with small detached objects.to dot a landscape with cottages

Derived terms

• dot do dot
• dot the i's and cross the t's

Preposition

1. Dot product of the previous vector and the following vector.The work is equal to F dot Δx.

Coordinate terms

• cross
• ·

From French dot.

Alternative forms

• dote

Noun

1. (US, Louisiana) A dowry.
• 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence,"Have you the pictures still?" I asked."Yes; I am keeping them till my daughter is of marriageable age, and then I shall sell them. They will be her dot."
• 1927, Anna Bowman Dodd, Talleyrand: the Training of a Statesman:As a bride, Madame de Talleyrand had brought a small dot of fifteen thousand francs to the family fund.

Anagrams

• DTO, ODT, tod