motte

See also: Motte, mõtte, mötte, and møtte

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɒt/

Etymology 1

From French motte, from Anglo-Norman/Old French motte (“mound, hillock”). Doublet of moat.

Noun

motte (plural mottes)

1. A raised earth mound, often topped with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded with a ditch.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

2. An argument which is uncontroversial and easy to defend (in the context of a motte and bailey fallacy).

   Coordinate term: bailey

   • 2023 February 10, “Why Birds Are Not Dinosaurs (And Why It Matters)”, in Answers in Genesis‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-03-15:

     "Birds are dinosaurs" is the bailey; "birds are more similar to dinosaurs than anything else" is the motte.

     Answers in Genesis is an organization which advocates in favour of Young Earth creationism.

Derived terms

• motte and bailey

 

Related terms

• moat

 

Translations

earth mound

• Galician: mota f

Etymology 2

Alternative forms.

Noun

motte (plural mottes)

1. Alternative form of mott

Anagrams

• motet, totem

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch mote, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”). Likely influenced by French motte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.tə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mot‧te
• Rhymes: -ɔtə

Noun

motte f (plural mottes, diminutive mottetje n)

1. a raised earth mound, often topped with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded with a ditch; a motte

Derived terms

• mottekasteel

Anagrams

• totem

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French mote (“mound”), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill”), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt

Noun

motte f (plural mottes)

1. motte (mound of earth)
2. clod (lump of earth)
3. block, lump (of food etc.)

   Synonym: tas

   motte de beurre

   lump of butter

4. (colloquial) pubic mound, mons veneris

   Synonym: mont de Vénus

Derived terms

• emmotter
• émottage
• émottement
• émotteur
• La Grande-Motte
• mini-motte
• motteux
• mottier
• motton
• rase-motte
• taper dans la motte

 

Further reading

• “motte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “mŭtt”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 6/3: Mobilis–Myxa, page 294

German

Verb

motte

1. inflection of motten:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Japanese

Romanization

motte

1. Rōmaji transcription of もって

Limburgish

Etymology

From Middle Dutch moeten, from Old Dutch muotan, from Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmo.tə/, [ˈmoʊ̯.te]
• Rhymes: -otə

Verb

motte (third-person singular present mott, past participle gemosst, auxiliary verb haane) (Eupen)

1. (auxiliary, with an infinitive → “motte” replaces the past participle) to have to (do something); must; to be obliged (to do something); to need (to do something).
2. (intransitive) to be necessary, to be required
3. (intransitive) to have to go, to need to go, must go
4. (intransitive, euphemistic) to need to go to the toilet

Conjugation

This entry needs an inflection-table template.