Iota
Iota (Ι, ι) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. In English “iota” also means an extremely small amount, as in “not one iota of evidence”, and the word “jot” comes from it.
How to read it
Iota is said eye-OH-tuh (Cambridge Dictionary: /aɪˈəʊ.tə/, American /aɪˈoʊ.t̬ə/). In Modern Greek the letter is ιώτα, which the University of Arizona’s guide writes “Yiota”; it stands for the ee of “feet”.
Also searched as: iota letter, iota symbol, ι, Ι.
Capital, small and look-alike forms
| Form | Character | Code point | Unicode name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | Ι | U+0399 | Greek capital letter iota |
| Small | ι | U+03B9 | Greek small letter iota |
| Iota subscript | ͺ | U+037A | Greek ypogegrammeni |
| Turned iota | ℩ | U+2129 | Turned Greek small letter iota |
| APL symbol | ⍳ | U+2373 | APL functional symbol iota |
The capital Ι looks like the Latin I (Cambridge Dictionary gives the symbols I and ι), and Unicode cross-refers the small ι to the Latin small letter iota ɩ (U+0269). Unicode encodes the iota subscript separately, under its Greek name ypogegrammeni, and gives “iota adscript” as another name for the capital Ι. The turned iota ℩ is a symbol in logic, for the unique thing that fits a description (Unicode).
“Not one iota”: iota as a tiny amount
In English, iota also means “a very small amount; a bit” (American Heritage Dictionary, with the example “not an iota of truth to that tale”) and “an extremely small amount” (Cambridge Dictionary, “I haven’t seen one iota of evidence to support his claim”). The word “jot” comes from the same letter: the American Heritage Dictionary defines a jot as “the smallest bit; iota” and derives it from Latin iōta, from the Greek letter.
Write in Greek letters
stringmash.comGreek alphabet translatorWrite English in Greek letters by sound, or turn Greek back into Latin letters as Greek passports do.Read next
- Next in Greek lettersKappaKappa (Κ, κ) is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In physics κ is the dielectric constant of a material; in maths it is the curvature of a curve; in statistics it names cumulants.
- The same shape in Glassware types and makers’ marksWestmoreland mark (WG)WG, a W and a G intertwined, is the mark of the Westmoreland Glass Company of Grapeville, Pennsylvania, pressed into its tableware from the late 1940s until the factory closed on 1 January 1984.
More greek letters
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers.
Sources
- Greek and Coptic: Range 0370–03FF (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Unicode Consortium, Greek and Coptic, pp. 39–41
- Letterlike Symbols: Range 2100–214F (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0, Unicode Consortium, Letterlike Symbols, 2129
- Miscellaneous Technical, Range: 2300–23FF (code chart), The Unicode Standard, Unicode Consortium, Miscellaneous Technical, APL symbols
- iota (Cambridge Dictionary entry), Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus, Cambridge University Press, iota, noun
- iota (American Heritage Dictionary entry), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, iota, n.
- jot, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, jot, n. and tr.v.
- Modern Greek Alphabet And Phonetics, University of Arizona, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Letter table
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
Added .