Wiktionary

mote

See also: Mote, motė, möte, mõte, mótè, and møte

English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English mot, from Old English mot (“grain of sand; mote; atom”), but of uncertain ultimate origin. Sometimes linked to Spanish mota (“speck”) and English mud.[1]

Compare West Frisian mot (“peat dust”), Dutch mot (“dust from turf; sawdust; grit”), Norwegian mutt (“speck; mote; splinter; chip”).

Noun edit

mote (plural motes)

  1. A small particle; a speck.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 7:5:
      Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
    • a. 1729, Edward Taylor, Meditation. Joh. 14.2. I go to prepare a place for you:
      What shall a Mote up to a Monarch rise?
      An Emmet match an Emperor in might?
    • 1979, J.G. Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company, chapter 9:
      I wanted to shrink myself to a mote of dust, plunge into this pool I held in my own cyclopean hands, soar down these runs of light to places where light itself was born from this colloquy of dust.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English moten, from Old English mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, may, must”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną (“to be able to, have to, be delegated”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to acquire, possess, be in charge of”). Cognate with Dutch moeten (“to have to, must”), German müssen (“to have to, must”), Ancient Greek μέδω (médō, “to prevail, dominate, rule over”). Related to empty.

Verb edit

mote (third-person singular simple present mote, no present participle, simple past and past participle must)

  1. (archaic) May or might. [from 9th c.]
  2. (obsolete) Must. [9th–17th c.]
  3. (archaic) Forming subjunctive expressions of wish: may. [from 9th c.]
    • 1980, Erica Jong, Fanny:
      ‘I shall not take Vengeance into my own Hands. The Goddess will do what She will.’ ‘So mote it be,’ said the Grandmaster.
Usage notes edit
  • Generally takes an infinitive without to.
Derived terms edit

Etymology 3 edit

See moot (“a meeting”).

Noun edit

mote (plural motes)

  1. (obsolete) A meeting for discussion.
    a wardmote in the city of London
  2. (obsolete) A body of persons who meet for discussion, especially about the management of affairs.
    a folk mote
  3. (obsolete) A place of meeting for discussion.
Derived terms edit

Etymology 4 edit

From remote, with allusion to the other sense of mote (“a speck of dust”).

Noun edit

mote (plural motes)

  1. A tiny computer for remote sensing; a component element of smartdust.

References edit

  1. ^ Worcester, Joseph Emerson (1910: Worcester's academic dictionary: a new etymological dictionary of the English language, p. 371

Anagrams edit

Inari Sami edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Samic *moδē.

Pronunciation edit

  This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Noun edit

mote

  1. mud

Inflection edit

Even e-stem, t-đ gradation
Nominative mote
Genitive mođe
Singular Plural
Nominative mote mođeh
Accusative mođe muuđijd
Genitive mođe muđij
muuđij
Illative motán muuđijd
Locative moođeest muuđijn
Comitative muuđijn muđijguin
Abessive mođettáá muđijttáá
Essive motteen
Partitive motteed
Possessive forms
Singular Dual Plural
1st person — — —
2nd person — — —
3rd person — — —

Further reading edit

  • mote in Marja-Liisa Olthuis, Taarna Valtonen, Miina Seurujärvi and Trond Trosterud (2015–2022) Nettidigisäänih Anarâškiela-suomakielâ-anarâškielâ sänikirje‎[1], Tromsø: UiT
  • Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎[2], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Italian edit

Noun edit

mote f pl

  1. plural of mota

Anagrams edit

Japanese edit

Romanization edit

mote

  1. Rōmaji transcription of もて

Latin edit

Participle edit

mōte

  1. vocative masculine singular of mōtus

Middle English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from Old French mote and Medieval Latin mota.

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

mote (plural motes)

  1. A natural or man-made mound; hill
Descendants edit
  • ⇒ Yola: mothee
References edit

Etymology 2 edit

Verb edit

mote

  1. inflection of moten (“to have to”):
    1. present subjunctive singular
    2. present indicative/subjunctive plural

Norwegian Bokmål edit

 
Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology edit

From French mode. Compare mode.

Noun edit

mote m (definite singular moten, indefinite plural moter, definite plural motene)

  1. fashion

Derived terms edit

References edit

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

 
Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology edit

From French mode.

Noun edit

mote m (definite singular moten, indefinite plural motar, definite plural motane)

  1. fashion

Derived terms edit

References edit

Portuguese edit

Etymology edit

From Provençal or French mot (“word”); see also Italian motto (“word”).

Pronunciation edit

 

  • Hyphenation: mo‧te

Noun edit

mote m (plural motes)

  1. motto

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmote/ [ˈmo.t̪e]
  • Rhymes: -ote
  • Syllabification: mo‧te

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from French mot (“word, saying”) or Occitan mot.

Noun edit

mote m (plural motes)

  1. nickname
  2. motto (heraldry)
Related terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Quechua mut'i.

Noun edit

mote m (plural motes)

  1. (South America) hulled cereal, especially pearl barley and hominy
Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Volapük edit

Noun edit

mote

  1. dative singular of mot
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=mote&oldid=77516102"