mote
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mote¹
- /moʊt/ US
- /məʊt/ UK
Sounds like moat · Rhymes with -əʊt
Where it comes from
From Middle English mot, from Old English mot (“grain of sand; mote; atom”), from Proto-West Germanic *mot (“grain of dirt or sand, speck”). Perhaps linked to English mud.
Compare West Frisian mot (“peat dust”), Dutch mot (“dust from turf; sawdust; grit”), Low German mut (“peat dust, grit”), Norwegian mutt (“speck; mote; splinter; chip”), Italian mota (“mud”), Spanish mota (“speck”).
noun motes
-
A small particle; a speck.
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.
Similar: modicum
mote²
- /moʊt/ US
- /məʊt/ UK
Sounds like moat · Rhymes with -əʊt
Where it comes from
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 mote · must
- May or might. he […] kept aloofe for dread to be descryde, / Untill fit time and place he mote espy, / Where he mote worke him scath and villeny.
- Must.
- Forming subjunctive expressions of wish: may. ‘I shall not take Vengeance into my own Hands. The Goddess will do what She will.’ ‘So mote it be,’ said the Grandmaster.
mote³
- /moʊt/ US
- /məʊt/ UK
Sounds like moat · Rhymes with -əʊt
Where it comes from
See moot (“a meeting”).
noun motes
- A meeting for discussion. a wardmote in the city of London
- A body of persons who meet for discussion, especially about the management of affairs. a folk mote
- A place of meeting for discussion.
mote⁴
- /moʊt/ US
- /məʊt/ UK
Sounds like moat · Rhymes with -əʊt
Where it comes from
Clipping of remote, with allusion to the other sense of mote (“a speck of dust”).
noun motes
- A tiny computer for remote sensing; a component element of smartdust.
Mote⁵
Where it comes from
From the French and English surname, spelling variant of Motte, from the noun motte (“stronghold”); also a variant of Mott.
proper noun Motes
- A surname.
Translations
Talk about this word "mote." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mote. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mote. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mote "mote." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mote.Cite this
@misc{mote_2026,
title = {mote},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mote},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
