noun
1.
a deep, wide trench, usually filled with water, surrounding the rampart of a fortified place, as a town or a castle.
2.
any similar trench, as one used for confining animals in a zoo.
Origin:
1325–75; Middle English mote < Old French: clod, mound, of obscure origin
1325–75; Middle English mote < Old French: clod, mound, of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To moat
Collins
World English Dictionary
moat (məʊt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a wide water-filled ditch surrounding a fortified place, such as a castle |
| —vb | |
| 2. | (tr) to surround with or as if with a moat: a moated grange |
| [C14: from Old French motte mound] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Moat
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
moat
mid-14c., from O.Fr. mote, from M.L. mota "mound, fortified height," probably from Gaulish mutt, mutta. Sense shifted in Norman French from the castle mound to the ditch dug around it.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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