Etymograph

English

dot

Dot comes from Old English dott ‘a dot, point’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *duttaz ‘wisp’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttaz‘wisp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dottreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dott‘a dot, point’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*dotreconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1838dot

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttaz‘wisp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dottreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dott‘a dot, point’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*dotreconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1838dot

Earliest quotation: 1838, William Hamilton, Report on Prof. Morse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph: “The alphabetical signals are made up of combinations of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *duttaz ‘wisp’

dit, 1 more

Today it means

noun A small, round spot.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *duttaz / dot

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