Wiktionary

motto

See also: Motto, mottó, and mòtto

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
Motto of Alabama

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c.. Doublet of mot.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

motto (plural mottos or mottoes)

  1. (heraldry) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
  2. A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
    • 1715 June 5 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 45. Wednesday, May 25. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
      It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... Serve God, and be cheerful.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎[1]:
      “ […] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
        Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […] ”
  3. (obsolete) A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

motto (third-person singular simple present mottos, present participle mottoing, simple past and past participle mottoed)

  1. (intransitive) To compose mottos.
    • 2003, Nineteenth Century Prose (volume 30, page 304)
      The singularity of his epigraphic strategy notwithstanding, Emerson does not draw attention to his own mottoing. One exchange suggests that his practice was a convention imposed from without.

Further readingEdit

CzechEdit

Alternative formsEdit

  • moto n (less common)

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

motto n

  1. motto
  2. epigraph

DeclensionEdit

Declension of motto
singular plural
nominative motto motta
genitive motta mott
dative mottu mottům
accusative motto motta
vocative motto motta
locative mottu mottech
instrumental mottem motty

See alsoEdit

Further readingEdit

  • motto in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • motto in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

DanishEdit

NounEdit

motto n (singular definite mottoet, plural indefinite mottoer)

  1. motto

ReferencesEdit

DutchEdit

 
Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

EtymologyEdit

From Italian motto (“a word, a saying”).

PronunciationEdit

  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: mot‧to

NounEdit

motto n (plural motto's, diminutive mottootje n)

  1. motto
  2. (heraldry) motto

HyponymsEdit

FinnishEdit

EtymologyEdit

Ultimately from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”).

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmotːo/, [ˈmo̞t̪ːo̞]
  • Rhymes: -otːo
  • Syllabification(key): mot‧to

NounEdit

motto

  1. motto (sentence or a phrase with guiding principle)
    Synonym: tunnuslause
  2. epigraph (literary quotation placed at the beginning of a book or other text)
    Synonym: epigrafi
  3. (heraldry) motto
    Synonyms: tunnuslause, vaalilause

DeclensionEdit

Inflection of motto (Kotus type 1*C/valo, tt-t gradation)
nominative motto motot
genitive moton mottojen
partitive mottoa mottoja
illative mottoon mottoihin
singular plural
nominative motto motot
accusative nom. motto motot
gen. moton
genitive moton mottojen
partitive mottoa mottoja
inessive motossa motoissa
elative motosta motoista
illative mottoon mottoihin
adessive motolla motoilla
ablative motolta motoilta
allative motolle motoille
essive mottona mottoina
translative motoksi motoiksi
instructive — motoin
abessive mototta motoitta
comitative — mottoineen
Possessive forms of motto (type valo)
possessor singular plural
1st person mottoni mottomme
2nd person mottosi mottonne
3rd person mottonsa

AnagramsEdit

ItalianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin muttum (“mutter”). Compare Catalan and French mot (“word”).

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɔt.to/
  • Rhymes: -ɔtto
  • Syllabification: mòt‧to

NounEdit

motto m (plural motti)

  1. witty remark
  2. motto, maxim
  3. posy (motto inscribed inside a ring)
  4. (Gallicism) word

DescendantsEdit

  • → English: motto
  • → German: Motto

Further readingEdit

  • motto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

JapaneseEdit

RomanizationEdit

motto

  1. Rōmaji transcription of もっと

MaquiritariEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

motto

  1. a kind of long earthworm or caecilian used as a sacred food during major life events and at the end of any fast

Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • Cáceres, Natalia (2011), “mottoo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana, Lyon
  • Hall, Katherine Lee (1988), “motto”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volume I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University
  • Hall, Katherine (2007), “motto”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎[2], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
  • Guss, David M. (1989) To Weave and Sing: Art, Symbol, and Narrative in the South American Rain Forest, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 30, 133
  • Monterrey, Nalúa Rosa Silva (2012) Hombres de curiara y mujeres de conuco. Etnografía de los indigenas Ye’kwana de Venezuela, Ciudad Bolívar: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, page 36

NauruanEdit

NounEdit

motto

  1. motto

Norwegian BokmålEdit

 
Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

EtymologyEdit

From Italian motto.

NounEdit

motto n (definite singular mottoet, indefinite plural motto or mottoer, definite plural mottoa or mottoene)

  1. a motto

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian NynorskEdit

 
Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

EtymologyEdit

From Italian motto.

NounEdit

motto n (definite singular mottoet, indefinite plural motto, definite plural mottoa)

  1. a motto

ReferencesEdit

PolishEdit

 
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Italian motto, from Latin muttum.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

motto n

  1. philosophy, motto, watchword, byword
    Synonyms: dewiza, credo
  2. (literature) epigraph (literary quotation placed at the beginning of a text)
    Synonym: epigraf

DeclensionEdit

Declension of motto
singular plural
nominative motto motta
genitive motta mott
dative mottu mottom
accusative motto motta
instrumental mottem mottami
locative motcie mottach
vocative motto motta

Further readingEdit

  • motto in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • motto in Polish dictionaries at PWN

RomanianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Italian motto or German Motto.

NounEdit

motto n (plural mottouri)

  1. motto

DeclensionEdit

Declension of motto
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) motto mottoul (niște) mottouri mottourile
genitive/dative (unui) motto mottoului (unor) mottouri mottourilor
vocative mottoule mottourilor

SwedishEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

motto n

  1. motto

DeclensionEdit

Declension of motto 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative motto mottot motton mottona
Genitive mottos mottots mottons mottonas

SynonymsEdit

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