semitic yod
Preserved but no longer current.
The written (and printed) i and / were for long interchangeable; it was only in the 19th century that in dictionaries, etc., they were treated as separate letters (in Johnson's Dictionary, for instance, iambic comes between iamb and jangle), and hence in many series- such as the signatures of sheets in a book, hall- marks on plate, etc. — either I or J is omitted. Cp. U.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “semitic yod” mean?
The written (and printed) i and / were for long interchangeable; it was only in the 19th century that in dictionaries, etc., they were treated as separate letters (in Johnson's Dictionary, for instance, iambic comes between iamb and jangle), and hence in many series- such as the signatures of sheets in a book, hall- marks on plate, etc. — either I or J is omitted. Cp. U.
Is “semitic yod” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.