motley
See also: Motley
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), from Old English mot (“speck”). Doublet of mote. The English word can be analysed as mottle + -y.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɒtli/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmɑtli/
- Hyphenation: mot‧ley
Adjective edit
motley (comparative more motley or motlier, superlative most motley or motliest)
- Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity.
- Synonyms: heterogeneous, diverse, manifold; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], lines 906–907:
- I met a fool i' th' forest, / A motley' fool.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
- Having many colours; variegated.
- Synonyms: colorful, prismatic, variegated; see also Thesaurus:multicolored
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
- mottled (adj)
Translations edit
comprising greatly varied elements
|
having many colours; variegated
|
Noun edit
motley (plural motleys)
- An incongruous mixture.
- A jester's multicoloured clothes.
- (by extension) A jester; a fool.
- c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 198, column 2, line 71:
- Wil you be married, Motley?
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 110”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- Alas, 'tis true, I have gone here and there, / And made myself a motley to the view, […]
Translations edit
incongruous mixture
|