Dot Meaning
/dɒt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA small, round spot.
nounA punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviated part of a word; a full stop; a period.
Sentence Examples
Be at the station at eleven on the dot.
Will you put a dot before the names of the successful students?
CEFR Practice Quiz
She placed a small ____ on the letter i to complete it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Be at the station at eleven on the ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English *dot, dotte, from Old English dott (“a dot, point”), from Proto-West Germanic *dott, from Proto-Germanic *duttaz (“wisp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte (“a clump”), Dutch dot (“lump, knot, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”), dialectal Swedish dott (“a little heap, bunch, clump”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Long stood Sir Bedivere / Revolving many memories, till the hull / Look’d one black dot against the verge of dawn / And on the mere the wailing died away."
— 1845, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Morte d’Arthur”, in Poems, lines 269–272:
"THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
A VERY SMALL DOT
IN
A VERY BIG UNIVERSE"
— 1914, Rowland R. Gibson, Forces Mining and Undermining China, 2nd edition, London: Andrew Melrose, →OCLC, →OL, page v:
"The alphabetical signals are made up of combinations of dots and of lines of different lengths."
— 1838, William Hamilton, “Report on Prof. Morse’s Electro-Magnetic Telegraph”, in Journal of the Franklin Institute:
"That left 15 needed from Boult's final set. Two dots were followed by a heave over deep mid-wicket, then came the outrageous moment of fortune."
— 2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport, London:
"Can’t miss no dots
Every shot let caused I’m hittin
Used to bag it up in the toilet
My mumsie thought I was shittin"
— 2018, “Rolling Round”, HL8 and SimpzBeatz (music), performed by Sparko of OMH:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She placed a small ____ on the letter i to complete it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Be at the station at eleven on the ____.