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mote

- 11 dictionary results

mote

1  [moht]
Use mote in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small particle or speck, esp. of dust.
2. moit.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE mot speck; c. D mot grit, sawdust, Norw mutt speck

Related forms:
motey, adjective

mote

2  [moht]
–verb, past moste  [mohst] . Archaic.
may or might.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME mot(e), OE mōt; c. G muss. See must 1

moit

  [moit]
–noun
1. a foreign particle found in wool, as a burr, twig, or seed.
–verb (used with object)
2. to remove moits from (wool).
Also, mote.

Origin:
1860–65; orig. sp. var. (N England) of mote 1 , with silent -i-, which served only to mark the o long; but by sp. pron. -oi- now has its usual value
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mote 1   (mōt)   
n.  A very small particle; a speck: "Dust motes hung in a slant of sunlight" (Anne Tyler).

[Middle English mot, from Old English.]
mote 2   (mōt)   
aux.v.   Archaic
May; might.

[Middle English moten, from Old English mōtan; see med- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mote

Mote\, v. See 1st Mot. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Mote

Mote\, n. [See Moot, a meeting.] [Obs., except in a few combinations or phrases.]

1. A meeting of persons for discussion; as, a wardmote in the city of London.

2. A body of persons who meet for discussion, esp. about the management of affairs; as, a folkmote.

3. A place of meeting for discussion.

Mote bell, the bell rung to summon to a mote. [Obs.]

Mote

Mote\, n. The flourish sounded on a horn by a huntsman. See Mot, n., 3, and Mort. --Chaucer.

Mote

Mote\, n. [OE. mot, AS. mot.] A small particle, as of floating dust; anything proverbially small; a speck.

The little motes in the sun do ever stir, though there be no wind. --Bacon.

We are motes in the midst of generations. --Landor.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mote
Spanish: novedad, moda,
German: der (letzte) Schrei in etwas,
Japanese: 一時的流行
More Translations »

mote 
"particle of dust," O.E. mot, of unknown origin; perhaps related to Du. mot "dust from turf, sawdust, grit." Many references are to Matt. vii.3.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Mote

(Gr. karphos, something dry, hence a particle of wood or chaff, etc.). A slight moral defect is likened to a mote (Matt. 7:3-5; Luke 6:41, 42).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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