The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
IOTA
Definition of IOTA
noun
The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ι, ι).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *yad- (“hand”). Doublet of jot and yodh. Sense “jot, small quantity” in reference to a phrase in the New Testament:”one iote or one title, shall in no wise passe from the law”, iota being the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.4%
of traced words share this origin (10,145)
branch · 12.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, IOTA · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
IOTA in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 89 boards so far. 181 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 164, 31 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
IOTA starts with I and ends with A. Sorted, its letters read AIOT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start IOTA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found IOTA?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER