Everyday
What is the dot over the letter i called?
The short answer
It is called a tittle. The word comes from the Latin titulus, meaning a heading or inscription, and it describes the small distinguishing dot over a lowercase i or j. Scribes added it so the letters wouldn't get lost in dense handwriting.
Merriam-Webster defines a tittle as a point or small sign in writing or printing, the dot over an i being the standard example. It arrived in English from the Latin titulus by way of medieval scribal practice.
It had a job. In the cramped, connected handwriting of 11th-century manuscripts, a bare vertical stroke was easy to lose in a run of similar strokes — imagine reading the word minimum written without any dots. The mark started as a light stroke to keep the letter distinct, and hardened into a dot.
It also gives you the phrase to the letter, more or less. The expression jot and tittle refers to the smallest possible marks on a page — a jot being the smallest Greek letter, a tittle being that dot.
Sources
- TittleMerriam-Webster
- What's The Name For The Dot Over 'i' And 'j'?Dictionary.com