different between smidgen vs iota

English

Alternative forms

• smidge, smidgeon, smidget, smidgin

Etymology

Likely based on a variant of smeddum (“fine powder”), influenced by Scots smitch (“stain, speck”). Confer Northumbrian dialectal English smiddum (“small particle of lead ore; smitham”). Scots smitch may derive from an unattested synonym of Old English sm?tan (“to daub, smear, smudge”): *sm?cgan (“to soil, stain, taint, blacken”). If so, then cognate with smudge.

Alternate etymology connects smidgeon with Scottish Gaelic smidin (“small syllable”), though this is highly improbable considering the implied semantic shift that would have to have occurred.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sm?d???n/
• Rhymes: -?d??n, -?d??n

Noun

smidgen (plural smidgens)

1. A very small quantity or amount.

   Synonyms: hair's breadth; see also Thesaurus:modicum

Usage notes

Some cookbooks and manufacturers of kitchen measurement sets have attempted to define a smidgen for recipes. Anything between ¹?₂₅ and ¹?₄₈ of a teaspoon may be found, ¹?₃₂ being perhaps the most commonly used. Other commonly used measures for small amounts include tad, dash, pinch, and drop. There seems to be some consensus of tad being the largest in this set and a smidgen being larger than a drop but smaller than a pinch.

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Demings, Dengism

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

• (jot): In reference to a phrase in the New Testament: "until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law" (Mt 5:18), iota being the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /a????t?/
• Rhymes: -??t?
• (US) IPA^(key): /a??o?t?/

Noun

iota (plural iotas)

1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.

   As a Greek numeral, iota represents ten.

   There are twelve iotas on that page.

2. A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

     They never depart an iota from the authentic formulas of tyranny and usurpation.

Synonyms

• (jot): See Thesaurus:modicum

Translations

Anagrams

• Oita

Catalan

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?j?.t?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?j?.ta/
• Hyphenation: io?ta

Noun

iota f (plural iotes)

1. iota (Greek letter)
2. iota (small amount)

Further reading

• “iota” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “iota” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “iota” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “iota” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j?.ta/

Noun

iota m (plural iota)

1. iota (Greek letter)
2. jot, iota (negligible amount)

Derived terms

• d'un iota

Further reading

• “iota” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• ôtai

Galician

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

Noun

iota m (plural iotas)

1. iota (Greek letter)
2. The name of the Latin-script letter J.

Further reading

• “iota” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Hawaiian

Noun

iota

1. The name of the Latin-script letter J.

Italian

Alternative forms

• jota (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?j?.ta/
• Rhymes: -?ta
• Hyphenation: iò?ta

Noun

iota m or f (invariable)

1. The name of the Greek-script letter ?/?; iota
2. (obsolete) Synonym of i lunga

Anagrams

• iato

Portuguese

Noun

iota m (plural iotas)

1. iota (the ninth Greek letter: ?, ?)

Related terms

• jota

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (iôta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i?ota/, [i?o.t?a]

Noun

iota f (plural iotas)

1. iota (Greek letter)

Further reading

• “iota” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.