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jota

[hoh-tuh; Spanish haw-tah]
noun, plural jo·tas [hoh-tuh z; Spanish haw-tahs] /ˈhoʊ təz; Spanish ˈhɔ tɑs/.
  1. a Spanish dance in triple meter, performed by a couple and marked by complex rhythms executed with the heels and castanets.
  2. the music for this dance.
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Origin of jota

1840–50; < Spanish, probably Old Spanish sota dance, derivative of sotar to dance < Latin saltāre
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for jota

Historical Examples of jota

  • Outside of Andalusia, the most famous dance is the Aragonese jota.

    Things seen in Spain

    C. Gasquoine Hartley

  • The jota that evening appeared to be a very sedate kind of dance.

  • Presently he was playing a jota and demanded that somebody should dance.

  • The jota is the most common of Spanish dances, as the waltz used to be with us.

  • The jota has a beat which is partly the beat of the bar, partly that of the phrase.

British Dictionary definitions for jota

jota

noun
  1. a Spanish dance with castanets in fast triple time, usually to a guitar and voice accompaniment
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Word Origin for jota

Spanish, probably modification of Old Spanish sota, from sotar to dance, from Latin saltāre
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for jota

n.

Spanish folk dance; by 1846, of uncertain etymology.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper