moot
See also mõõt
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English moot, mot, ȝemot, from Old English mōt, gemōt (“moot, society, assembly, meeting, court, council, synod”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtą (“encounter, meeting, assembly”), from Proto-Indo-European *mōd-, *mād- (“to encounter, come”). Cognate with Scots mut, mote (“meeting, assembly”), Low German mote (“meeting”), Danish møde (“meeting”), Swedish möte (“meeting”), Icelandic mót (“meeting, tournament, meet”). Related to meet.
Pronunciation
Adjective
moot (comparative more moot, superlative most moot)
- (current in the UK, obsolete in the US) Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
- 1770, Joseph Banks, The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, January 4, 1770 (published 1962):
- […] :indeed we were obligd to hawl off rather in a hurry for the wind freshning a little we found ourselves in a bay which it was a moot point whether or not we could get out of: […]
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 32:
- [T]he uncertain, unsettled condition of this science of Cetology is in the very vestibule attested by the fact, that in some quarters it still remains a moot point whether a whale be a fish.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 477:
- The extent to which these Parisian radicals ‘represented’ the French people as a whole was very moot.
- 1770, Joseph Banks, The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, January 4, 1770 (published 1962):
- (North America) Having no practical impact or relevance.
- That point may make for a good discussion, but it is moot.
- 2007, Paul Mankowski, "The Languages of Biblical Translation", Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 4,
- The question [whether certain poetry was present in the original Hebrew Psalms] in our own time is moot, since various considerations have made it certain that, of all the hazards presented by biblical translation, a dangerous excess of beauty is not one of them.
- (North America, chiefly law) Being an exercise of thought; academic.
- Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day (1903) Moot Points: Friendly Disputes on Art and Industry Between Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day
Synonyms
- (without relevance): irrelevant, obsolete (if it was previously relevant)
Derived terms
Translations
subject to discussion
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having no practical importance
|
|
Noun
moot (plural moots)
- A moot court.
- Sir T. Elyot
- The pleading used in courts and chancery called moots.
- Sir T. Elyot
- A system of arbitration in many areas of Africa in which the primary goal is to settle a dispute and reintegrate adversaries into society rather than assess penalties.
- (Scouting) A gathering of Rovers (18 - 26 year-old Scouts). Usually a camp lasting 2 weeks.
- (paganism) A social gathering of pagans, normally held in a public house.
- (historical) An assembly (usually for decision making in a locality). [from the 12th c.]
Derived terms
Verb
moot (third-person singular simple present moots, present participle mooting, simple past and past participle mooted)
- To bring up as a subject for debate, to propose.
- To discuss or debate.
- (US) To make or declare irrelevant.
Translations
to bring up as a subject for debate, to propose
to discuss or debate
External links
Etymology 2
Origin unknown.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈmʊt/
Noun
moot (plural moots)
References
- 2005, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, ISBN 041525938X, page vol. 2, p. 1320:
Anagrams
Dutch
Noun
moot m (plural moten, diminutive mootje)
- a thick slice of (usually) fish