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The tenth letter of the English alphabet. It is a later variant form of the Roman letter I, used to express a consonantal sound, that is, originally, the sound of English y in yet. The forms J and I have, until a recent time, been classed together, and they have been used interchangeably. In medical prescriptions, j is still used in place of i at the end of a number, as a Roman numeral; as, vj, xij. J is etymologically most closely related to i, y, g; as in jot, iota; jest, gesture; join, jugular, yoke. See I. J is a compound vocal consonant, ...