moth
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moth¹
- /mɒθ/ UK
- /mɔθ/ US
- /mɑθ/ cot caught merger
Rhymes with -ɒθ, -ɔːθ
Where it comes from
From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa, from Proto-West Germanic *moþþā, from Proto-Germanic *maþô ~ *muttaz (“insect, worm, maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”) and Norwegian Nynorsk mott (“moth”).
noun moths
- Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
- Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
verb moths · mothing · mothed
- To hunt for moths.
moth²
- /məʊt/ UK
- /moʊt/ US
Sounds like moat, mote · Rhymes with -əʊt
Where it comes from
From Hindi मोठ (moṭh); see moth bean.
noun moths
-
A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).
Similar: Turkish gram, mat bean, matki
moth³
Where it comes from
Alternative form of mot (“woman; wife”), likely under influence from Irish maith (“goodness”).
noun moths
- A girlfriend.
moth⁴
noun moths
- Obsolete form of mote So that, dear lords, if I be left behind, / A moth of peace, and he go to the war, / The rites for which I love him are bereft me, / And I a heavy interim shall support / By his dear absence. Let me go with him.
- A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one. To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: luna, arctiid, butterfly, caterpillar, budworm, fly, mite, diamondback, larva, codling, reindeer, flower, papillon, soapweed, yucca, codlin
Translations
Every language
noun insect similar to a butterfly
| Español | polilla, taraza |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 나방 nabang |
| 日本語 | 蛾 ga |
| 中文 | 蛾 é |
| हिन्दी | पतंगा pataṅgā, परवाना parvānā |
| Kiswahili | nondo |
| Português | traça, mariposa |
| Français | mite, papillon de nuit, phalène |
| Deutsch | Motte, Nachtfalter |
| Italiano | falena, tarma, camola, tignola |
| Ελληνικά | νυχτοπεταλούδα nychtopetaloúda |
| Română | molie |
| Русский | моль molʹ, мотылёк motyljók, ночна́я ба́бочка nočnája bábočka |
| Tiếng Việt | ngài, bướm đêm |
| العربية | عُثَّة ʕuṯṯa |
| עברית | עָשׁ ash, סָס sas |
noun Vigna aconitifolia
| 中文 | 蛾 é |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Mattenbohne |
Talk about this word "moth." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/moth. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. moth. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/moth "moth." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/moth.Cite this
@misc{moth_2026,
title = {moth},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/moth},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
