moot
of little or no practical value, meaning, or relevance; purely academic: In practical terms, the issue of her application is moot because the deadline has passed.
Chiefly Law. not actual; theoretical; hypothetical.
to present or introduce (any point, subject, project, etc.) for discussion.
to reduce or remove the practical significance of; make purely theoretical or academic.
Archaic. to argue (a case), especially in a mock court.
an assembly of the people in early England exercising political, administrative, and judicial powers.
an argument or discussion, especially of a hypothetical legal case.
Obsolete. a debate, argument, or discussion.
Origin of moot
1word story For moot
In 16th-century England, a moot was “a hypothetical case or point for law students to practice on.” This is where we get the terms moot point and moot court. Moot later developed the sense “open to discussion, debatable, doubtful,” and finally “impossible to be settled.” In American legal usage in the first half of the 19th century, moot developed an additional sense “having no effect, purely academic, abstract” (now used only outside legal contexts), but American usage also retained the original sense “remaining open for debate or consideration,” leaving the meaning of moot point in conversation up for grabs: Is it a debatable point, or irrelevant?
Other words for moot
Opposites for moot
Other words from moot
- mooter, noun
- mootness, noun
Words that may be confused with moot
- moot , mute
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for moot
/ (muːt) /
subject or open to debate: a moot point
(tr) to suggest or bring up for debate
(intr) to plead or argue theoretical or hypothetical cases, as an academic exercise or as vocational training for law students
a discussion or debate of a hypothetical case or point, held as an academic activity
(in Anglo-Saxon England) an assembly, mainly in a shire or hundred, dealing with local legal and administrative affairs
Origin of moot
1Derived forms of moot
- mooter, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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