Dot - Definition and Overview

Dot can refer to several different characters:

• full stop, or period, primarily used in writing to end a sentence.
• decimal point, is used to mark the boundary between the integer and the fractional parts of a decimal numeral.
• dot (diacritic), a diacritic mark
• dot dot dot is an informal way of referring to the ellipsis, and in casual speech, can be substituted for et cetera.

Other meanings for dot:

• dot is the name for the point in typography.
• DOT Language, is a graphing language used by the graphviz package to create complex flowcharts and graphs.
• dot is a common term for the short sound in Morse code.
• Dot Records is the name of a record label.
• Dot is the youngest sibling in the popular Animaniacs cartoon by Warner Brothers
• Dot is a song by Destiny's Child featured on the movie soundtrack for Romeo Must Die.
• DOT is an abbreviation of Department of Transport (in the UK).
• DoT is an acronym for Department of Transportation (in the USA and various U.S. states).
• DOT is a medical acronym for Directly observed treatment for diseases such as tuberculosis or HIV to assure compliance and avoid drug resistance. Similar is DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) and DOTS-PLUS for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). External Link: WHO - DOTS (http://www.who.int/gtb/dots/)