请输入您要查询的英文单词：

　

单词 mote
释义

moten.1

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/
Forms:

α. Old English–Middle English 1600s mot, Middle English moot, Middle English mowthe, Middle English 1600s mothe, Middle English–1500s moote, 1500s moet, 1500s moyte (northern), 1500s–1600s moate, 1500s–1600s mott, 1500s–1700s moat, 1600s moth; English regional 1800s moyte (Yorkshire), 1800s– maute, 1800s– moat, 1800s– moit (northern), 1900s– mott; Scottish pre-1700 moate, pre-1700 moit, pre-1700 moot, pre-1700 moyt, pre-1700 mute, pre-1700 1700s– mot, pre-1700 1700s– mote, pre-1700 1900s– moat, pre-1700 1900s– mott; also Irish English 1800s mot, 1800s mothe.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with West Frisian mot peat dust, Middle Dutch -mot (only in turfmot peat dust, steenmot grit; Dutch mot dust from straw, sawdust, grit, rubbish), German regional (Low German) mut peat dust, grit, rubbish, Norwegian regional mutt short piece of straw, flake, grain; perhaps compare also (with s- prefix) Swedish smutt little bit, small piece (now obsolete in this sense). Further etymology uncertain: perhaps the same word as Dutch mot drizzle, fine rain (chiefly in motregen ), Swedish regional muta to drizzle (and probably also forms with initial s- : compare smut n., smot v.), but the semantic development is difficult to account for; or perhaps related (in a way that has not been satisfactorily explained) to the Germanic base of moth n.1, with original sense ‘to gnaw, reduce to small fragments’.Spanish mota knot in cloth (c1400; compare sense 2c) is probably unrelated ( < Middle French motte or its etymon post-classical Latin motta : see mote n.2). The Irish English form mothe probably reflects the characteristic Irish dentalization of the /t/ phoneme.
1.
a. A particle of dust, esp. one of the innumerable minute specks seen floating in a beam of light; (contextually) an irritating particle in the eye or throat. a mote in the eye (figurative): (a) (with allusion to Matthew 7:3; see also Luke 6:41) a minor fault observed in another person by someone who ignores a greater fault of his or her own (cf. beam n.1 3c); †(b) a cause of irritation or annoyance (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > mental attitude, point of view > [noun] > source of prejudice
moteeOE
fescue1377
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > dust or fluff > particle of
moteeOE
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > ray of > motes in
moteeOE
sundust1849
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > a particle > of dust
moteeOE
atom1588
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [noun] > state of having moral defects > fault by which one is beset
beamc1000
a mote in the eyeOE
besetment1831
eye-
the mind > emotion > anger > irritation > [noun] > action of irritating > cause of irritation > one who or that which irritates
fly?c1225
terrer1382
prickc1384
taryerc1440
stub1531
provokera1542
a mote in the eye1546
annoying1566
nettler1611
gadfly1622
flea-biter1629
exasperator1632
badgerer?1791
irritator1855
needler1874
nagger1881
holy terror1883
knob1920
jerkface1942
needle artist1982
d-bag1984
knob-end1989
hater1996
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 69 Atomo, mote.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 3 To hwi gesihst þu þæt mot [OE Lindisf. stre uel mot] on þines broþor egan, & þu ne gesyhst þone beam on þinum agenum eagan.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 175 Þet y-zyeþ þet mot ine þe oþres eȝe.
a1425 Adam & Eve (Bodl.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1885) 74 349 (MED) I sawe ordres of aungeles as thikke as mots in the son.
c1480 (a1400) St. Blaise 345 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 371 Quha-sa-euire in þare throt seknes has, awne ore mot [etc.].
c1480 (a1400) St. Margaret 494 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 61 As motis ar in sown-beme fare.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 79 What man loked in the glasse had he ony dissease, of prickyng or motes, smarte or perles in his eyen he shold be anon heled of it.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) Direct. 66 Quhilk in myne e fast staris a mote to spy.
1546 J. Bale First Examinacyon A. Askewe f. 21 b Johan Frith is a great moate in their eyes.
1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 7v Pouders..made subtile and fyne lyke mootes of the sonne, as they call them.
1627 Abp. G. Abbot in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. (1659) 454 The first of these is Sir Dudley Diggs, a very great Mote in the Dukes Eye, as I am informed.
1645 J. Milton Il Penseroso in Poems 37 As the gay motes that people the Sun Beams.
1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 122 Women who have an Art of taking a Moat out of ones Eye, tho' at some Miles distance from the Party griev'd.
1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 307 Sometimes he imagines his eyes are full of motes.
1800 H. Wells Constantia Neville II. xix. 296 He pretended to shew to his brethren the moat that he had discovered in their's.
1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 39 All that it inherits Are motes of a sick eye, bubbles and dreams.
1880 W. Wallace Epicureanism viii. 192 Moving freely about like the motes we see in the sunbeam.
1935 D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night iv. 70 The single eye, directed to the object, not dimmed nor distracted by private motes and beams.
1955 S. Spender Coll. Poems 1928–53 173 Coarse, yellow straw—lit by that sunbeam, Which, laden with motes, strikes across the floor.
1958 New Scientist 26 June 269/2 We, in Britain, really ought to cast out this mote from our own eye before viewing so complacently the beam in that of our trans-Atlantic brother.
1991 M. Dorris & L. Erdrich Crown of Columbus iii. 52 Better to be a neat package of ashes, a mote in a blinking eye, or to populate an urn decorative on a shelf.
b. A minute solid particle of foreign matter in food or drink. Now Scottish.In later use probably re-arising out of a mingling of senses 1a and 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > pollution or defilement > [noun] > specific impurities > particle of foreign matter
motec1300
stalkc1405
c1300 St. Dominic (Laud) 204 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 284 And Ine blessede nouȝt mi drinke: and a swuch mot þare was Inne, And with þat drinke þat ich dronk: it schet me sone with-Inne.
a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 134 Ne put youre fyngurs in the cuppe, mootes for to seche.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. viii. 221 I ne'er noticed it afore, and it's nae sic mote neither but what ane might see it in their parritch.
1842 J. Aiton Domest. Econ. (1857) 221 A corn sickle is then drawn through the butter several cross ways, in order to take out any hairs that may remain in it; and if any other motes appear, they are also taken out.
1846 W. Cross Disruption xxiii. 249 The mot [sc. tea leaf] that stands for the young man is pairthy on the road to something like a kirk..and the mot that stands for the young woman is half floating in melted sugar.
1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. at Mott Da mylk was dat foo o motts at I windered if shöd ever ösed a syercloot.
c. In extended use (usually from sense 1a): a minute particle of something, an atom; (hence) something very minute or trivial, a trifle. In negative contexts: a jot.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial
gnatc1000
ball play?c1225
smalla1250
triflec1290
fly1297
child's gamec1380
motec1390
mitec1400
child's playc1405
trufferyc1429
toyc1450
curiosity1474
fly-winga1500
neither mass nor matins1528
boys' play1538
nugament1543
knack?1544
fable1552
nincety-fincety1566
mouse1584
molehill1590
coot1594
scoff1594
nidgery1611
pin matter1611
triviality1611
minuity1612
feathera1616
fillip1621
rattle1622
fiddlesticka1625
apex1625
rush candle1628
punctilio1631
rushlight1635
notchet1637
peppercorn1638
petty John1640
emptiness1646
fool-fangle1647
nonny-no1652
crepundian1655
fly-biting1659
pushpin1660
whinny-whanny1673
whiffle1680
straw1692
two and a plack1692
fiddle1695
trivial1715
barley-strawa1721
nothingism1742
curse1763
nihility1765
minutia1782
bee's knee1797
minutiae1797
niff-naff1808
playwork1824
floccinaucity1829
trivialism1830
chicken feed1834
nonsensical1842
meemaw1862
infinitesimality1867
pinfall1868
fidfad1875
flummadiddle1882
quantité négligeable1885
quotidian1902
pipsqueak1905
hickey1909
piddle1910
cream puff1920
squat1934
administrivia1937
chickenshit1938
cream puff1938
diddly-squat1963
non-issue1965
Tinkertoy1972
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > the smallest amount > a jot
cornc888
grotc888
prickleOE
prickOE
pointc1300
grain1377
hair1377
motec1390
twynt1399
mitec1400
tarec1405
drop1413
ace?1440
tittlea1450
whita1450
jot1526
Jack1530
plack1530
farthingc1540
minima1585
scintil1599
atom1626
scintillation1650
punct1653
doit1660
scintilla1674
rap1792
haet1802
dottle1808
smiggot1823
hooter1839
heartbeat1855
pick1866
filament1868
hoot1878
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit > a particle
grotc888
crumba1387
motec1390
particlea1398
pointa1400
specka1400
atomy1584
moment1594
dust1597
pickle1604
mite1605
atom1626
iota1636
ramentum1658
bodikin1668
part1669
dustling1674
scintilla1674
minim1686
fleck1753
molecule1799
heartbeat1855
particule1889
c1390 Body & Soul (Vernon) (1889) 76 What breidest þou þat i schel rote? For so dude Sampson and Cesar, Þat no mon con nou fynden a mote.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 299 (MED) For þat mote in his mawe mad hym..to wamel at his hert.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 1603 It myghte naught a moote in that suffise.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 943 Nat wold I rekke as mochel as a mote.
a1563 J. Bale King Johan (1969) ii. 1860 Whie wert thu cast in preson?.. For coniurynge, calkynge, and coynynge of newe grotes, For clippynge of nobles, with suche lyke pratye motes.
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. ii. sig. D3v Let me know the man that wrongs me so, That I may cut his body into motes.
a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) v. iii. 52 I presume the sight Would move you to compassion. Luke. Not a mote.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Milk Where not the least Mote of any Filth may by any means appear.
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlvi We're nae vera easy seen files, though we're nae jist a mote a thegither.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby There was nowther head nor hair on't, moit nor doit.
1904 J. London Sea-wolf vi. 55 It is a very little world, a mote, a speck, and I marvel that men should dare to venture the sea on a contrivance so small and fragile.
1970 L. Deighton Bomber (1972) xxviii. 381 A thin snake of black smoke crawled through the back streets near the railway, bringing oily smears, motes of soot, reddened eyes and a taste that reached into the back of Bodo's throat.
1989 M. Robinson Mother Country ii. 227 They have sold..the well-being of the descendants of every mote of life that stirs on the face of the earth.
†d. = atom n. 4. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > atomic chemistry > [noun] > atoms
atom1555
mote1585
individuum1656
leasting1674
prime1839
nuclear atom1915
1585 E. D. Prayse of Nothing sig. B.i They traueyled (Curiositie being their guid) to find out in the numbers of Pythagorus, the moets of epicure.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 136 He saith that this diuersitie proceedeth from those little motes or bodies that go to the making of all things.
2.
a. A spot, a blemish; (figurative) a fault or drawback. Now archaic exc. Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > signals > [noun] > signal on horn
forloinc1369
motec1400
strakea1425
rechasec1425
recopec1425
morta1500
seekc1500
death note1575
recheat1575
gibbet1590
wind1596
relief1602
call1677
stroke1688
gone away1827
rattle1889
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > soiled condition > [noun] > spotted condition > spot
speckc725
moleeOE
spot?c1225
wen1340
spleck1398
tachea1400
motec1400
macule?a1425
smot1532
fleck1598
iron mould1638
flecket1684
sye1781
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl 764 (MED) Cum hyder to me, my lemman swete, For mote ne spot is non in þe.
a1425 Dialogue Reason & Adversity (Cambr.) (1968) 19 (MED) Vse honeste in lyuyng & þou mayt haue no betere besom to swepe a wey þe motes of infames birþe.
c1450 Digby Plays 215 In your conscience..is noȝt so great mot.
a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald (1977) 86 (MED) Als wemles were his wedes, withouten any tecche Oþer of moulynge, oþer of motes..As þai hade..bene ȝisturday shapen.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 246/2 Mote on a gowne or garment, povtie.
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 141 It wes full ill to fynd ane moit vpoun hir goun.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iv. i. 181 Therefore should euery Souldier..wash euery Moth out of his Conscience. View more context for this quotation
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1664) 114 I speak it for your encouragement, that ye may make the best out of your joyes ye can, albeit ye finde them mixed with motes.
a1711 T. Ken Wks. (1721) I. 71 In your bright souls endure no wilful Mote.
1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie I. vii. 51 The ragged coat o' the callant was ne'er a mot in the man's marriage.
1826 D. Anderson Poems in Sc. Dial. 104 Se blin's fouk, that ha'in bastards now Is monie times nae mote in Their marriage-day.
1983 F. Warner Moving Refl. II. Prol. 33 One hundred years of age, and failing fast, although fierce light of sanctity still burns his bones, refined now of its youthful motes.
†b. Scottish. A scruple. Chiefly in to make no motes of. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > [noun] > scruple of conscience
scriplea1382
grutchingc1450
grudge1483
scruple1526
scrupulosity?a1562
qualm1617
mote1619
alarm bella1629
squeam1798
1619 in W. K. Tweedie Select Biogr. (1845) I. 73 Some subscribed without any condition roundly and made no moats of it.
c1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 422 Some made no motts of it to subscryve simplie and absolutelie.
c. Textiles. An imperfection in cotton or other textile fibre (see quots. 1902, 1993). Cf. moit n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > [noun] > imperfection in
fag1463
nib1771
mote1842
1842 in J. S. Bassett Southern Plantation Overseer (1925) 166 The gin dos not doo good work it draws too many motes through.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 490/1 Burry and motey wool, with the same cleaned from the burs and motes.
1902 W. I. Hannan Textile Fibres Commerce 102 The fragmental portions of cotton seeds carry a tuft of attached fibres on the outer membrane; this is termed a bearded mote, and is regarded as an imperfection or impurity.
1993 Textile Terms & Definitions (ed. 9) at Motes This type of mote [sc. a fuzzy mote] consists of whole aborted or immature seeds covered with fuzz fibres.
3.
a. A straw, a single stalk of hay; a slender twig or rod. Now chiefly English regional (south-western) and Irish English.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > a single straw or particle of straw
strawc950
fescue1377
mote1550
haulm1552
feasetraw1595
straw-mote1747
Mott1963
1550 in D. W. Crossley Sidney Ironworks Accts. 1541–73 (1975) 87 Laurens erle for xxxti cordes of woodd ixs. more unto hym for xxx cordes of old motes xs.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. xiii. 467 Otes..in grassie leaues, and knottie straw or motes, are somwhat like to wheate.
1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 171/2 Lang straes are nae motes.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 69 The Hill Ants collect a vast Quantity of Pieces of dry Sticks, Chips, Straw-Motes, and other Rubbish.
1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. Gloss. 328 Mote. ‘A strā mote’. A stalk of grass.
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge I. xxi. 265 This evening motes of straw lay around.
1930 H. Williamson Village Bk. 328 It had looked like a sheaf of reed motts—the unbruised wheaten stalks used for thatching.
1959 Times 19 Aug. 9/7 The ‘motts’ (or stems) are carefully bumped together, butts down, before being tied in bundles for thatching.
†b. Mining. A fuse used to ignite a charge (see quot. 1883). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > fuse
fuse1647
slow match1651
touch string1809
firing line1839
blasting-fuse1881
mote1881
German1883
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 158 Mote, see Squib [sc. a slow-match or safety-fuse, used with a barrel].
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 171 Mote or Moat, a straw filled with gunpowder for igniting a shot.
†4. = nap n.2 1a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > pile or nap of
wloc950
nap1440
pile1568
mote?a1600
?a1600 ( R. Sempill Legend Bischop St. Androis in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xlv. 379 To sponge his cloak durst not be done. It hurte the woole, and wrought it bair, Puld off the mottes, and did no mair.

Compounds

C1. Objective.
mote-filled adj.
ΚΠ
1870 J. Tyndall in Nature 17 Mar. 500/1 Imagine the wire clasped by the mote-filled air.
1966 R. E. Duncan Bk. of Resemblances in Sel. Poems (1997) 31 A poet who sits in the light of words like a cat in the mote-filled sunlight of a window.
1993 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 7 Nov. 44 A modern bistro..with wooden booths and hatracks, high ceilings, mote-filled beams of sunlight.
mote-laden adj.
ΚΠ
1876 J. Tyndall in Proc. Royal Soc. 24 176 Admission of the mote-laden air, suffice in three days to render the infusions putrid and full of life.
1951 S. Spender World within World iii. 123 The characters of his novels radiate round him under a glowing cloud of dirty varnish, not unlike the mote-laden lighting of Fräulein Thurau's apartment.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It xii. 102 The mote-laden rays striking guiderope and stand.
1992 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 1 Mar. 8/ z1 I could move more than a few inches into the mote-laden, steam-heated, winter air.
C2.
† mote-catching adj. and n. Obsolete (a) adj. nit-picking, pedantically critical; (b) n. pedantry.
ΚΠ
1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. H2 Thou impotent moate-catching carper.
1848 Amer. Rev. July 51/2 It breaks up thinking into mote-catching.
mote knife n. now rare (perh. obsolete) (in a carding machine) a knife for removing motes from textile fibres.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine > other parts
card board1420
card can1815
bend1882
nip1884
mote knife1896
1896 W. S. Taggart Cotton Spinning I. 132 The cotton is no sooner taken from the feed than it is carried past one or two bars C and D with sharp edges, known as mote knives.

Derivatives

ˈmote-like adj.
ΚΠ
1852 Democratic Rev. Mar. 261/1 Dancing mote-like in the creative power of those who reject the old name of God.
a1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 194 Swayed about Mote-like in thy mighty glow.
1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris iii. 168 It oozed chaff and a sifting dust, motelike in the sun.
1991 M. Amis Time's Arrow iii. 100 For me the stars are mote-like, just twists of dust.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

moten.2

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/
Forms: Middle English 1700s mot, Middle English– mote, late Middle English moot, 1800s moat (archaic), 1800s moate (archaic); Scottish pre-1700 moett, pre-1700 moit, pre-1700 moitt, pre-1700 moitte, pre-1700 moot, pre-1700 motte, pre-1700 moyt, pre-1700 moyte, pre-1700 1700s mot, pre-1700 1700s–1800s moat, pre-1700 1900s– mott, pre-1700 1700s 1900s– mote; also Irish English 1800s– moat, 1800s– mothee.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French mote.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman mote, moett, mot, motte and Old French mote, motte mound, hillock (c1165), castle-hill, castle (c1170), clod (1213; French motte clod, mound, lump) < post-classical Latin mota , motta clod of earth (9th cent. in a north Italian source), mound, hillock (9th cent. in a French source), castle (12th cent.); the transferred sense ‘moat, defensive ditch’ (compare moat n.1) is apparently a peculiarly British development: compare post-classical Latin mota (from 1172 in this sense in British sources), Anglo-Norman mote (c1200 in this sense). Further etymology uncertain (see note). Compare Old Occitan mota hill, castle (12th cent.), clod of earth (1375), Spanish mota hillock, embankment (1218), clod, turf (1899), Portuguese mota mound, rampart (1280), Italian †motta landslide, crag, mound (14th cent.), Italian regional (northern) mota hillock, heap. Compare motte n.2The Romance word is probably an early loan < Germanic: compare Middle High German mot mud, dark peaty soil, and further High German forms s.v. mud n.1 (German regional (Swiss) Mutte clod of earth, turf, which is semantically distinct from the other Germanic words, perhaps represents a later reborrowing of the Romance word). With the transference of sense giving rise to moat n.1 compare dike n.1, ditch n.1
Now chiefly archaic and regional.
1.
a. A mound (natural or man-made), eminence, or hill, esp. as the location of a camp, city, castle, fort, or other building; an embankment.Frequently retained in place names, but now otherwise superseded by motte n.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun]
link931
rise1240
motea1300
bentc1405
mote-hill1475
territory1477
height1487
rising1548
raising1572
linch1591
mount1591
swelling1630
up1637
vertex1641
advance1655
ascendant1655
eminency1662
ascent1663
eminence1670
swell1764
elevation1799
embreastment1799
upwith1819
lift1825
salita1910
turtle-back1913
upwarp1917
upslope1920
whaleback1928
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > hill as site of fort
motea1300
mote-hill1475
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 72 (MED) Hit stont vppon a treowe mote þar hit neuer truke ne schal.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 165 (MED) Doun of the kastelle mote Isaac douhter cam & felle R. to fote gretand.
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) 932 (MED) I moued dovne fro þe mote to þe midwardz And so a-dovne to þe dale.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. v. xvii. 206 Ane litill mote [L. editus locus] in quhilk was laid ane buschement full of armit men.
1566 in J. Beveridge & G. Donaldson Reg. Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1957) V. ii. 85/1 Etiam motam vulgo lie mote de Carale olim castrum de Carale vocatum.
a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) §225 241 Above the clifts appear the banks and motes rudely cast up, called Clovelly Dikes.
1682 in J. Maidment Spottiswoode Misc. (1844) I. 320 The little mott where the Queen's lodgings were.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess iii. 116 Frae aff a rising mot, He cry'd to stop, an' crying stampt the ground, Until the hillock gae a trembling sound.
1884 G. T. Clark Mediæval Mil. Archit. Eng. I. ii. 27 Many of these mounds under the name of motes (motæ) retained their timber defences to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
1898 D. Christison Early Fortifications Scotl. i. i. 3 The motes of which I have to speak are..fortresses..and consist essentially of conical flat-topped mounds, which were defended by palisades.
1919 Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 53 43 Alexander Elphinstone in 1507 took up his residence upon the old deserted Norman mote.
1968 F. M. McNeill Silver Bough IV. 57 All this area was at one time heavily wooded and this mote, or Caern-of-the-woods (Carne-re-Wath) gave the village its name.
1992 National Trust Mag. Summer 11/3 With the completion of the first stage of the restoration programme at Ightham Mote in Kent,..there are now eight new rooms on the visitor route.
†b. Chiefly poetic. A castle, fortress; a city. in mote: among men. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun]
chestera855
boroughc893
fastnessOE
strength?c1225
warnestore1297
fortress13..
holdc1330
strongholdc1384
motec1390
fortalicec1425
garnisonc1430
garrisonc1430
town of war1441
wall-town1488
strengh1489
afforciament1509
piece1525
forcea1552
citadel1567
fort1569
place1575
holt1600
alcazar1623
fasthold1623
afforcement1642
castle-town1646
post1648
garrison-town1649
bridlea1661
palank1685
place of arms1704
ostrog1761
qila1761
presidio1763
gurry1786
thana1803
pa1823
castrum1836
lis1845
Gibraltar1856
training post1867
kasbah1902
jong1904
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > castle or fortified building > [noun]
castlea1075
stronghousec1325
motec1390
house of fencec1425
castle of war1441
slot1578
house of war1581
kasbah1738
castellation1858
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > city > [noun]
cityc1300
cityc1300
wonec1330
motec1390
daughter1535
civity1577
village1825
urbs1837
urb1952
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 489 (MED) Boþe þe Mot and þe molde Schon al on red golde.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl 937 (MED) That mote..in Judy londe..is þe cyte þat þe Lombe con fonde.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 635 (MED) Voyded of vche vylany, wyth verertuez [read vertuez] ennourned in mote.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3832 A castell was closid in þe borne..a mervalous mote, made all of redis... A fewe..folke..a-perid, Waiteand out at wyndows.
2. A barrow, a tumulus. Now regional (chiefly Irish English).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > [noun] > mound
loweOE
barrowc1000
motea1522
burial-hillc1600
law1607
mound1635
tumulus1686
tor1794
burial-mound1854
grave-mound1859
grave1863
how1947
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. i. 13 Enee..Apon the sepulture, as custum was and gise, An hepe of erd and litle mote gart wpraise.
1724 in W. McFarlane Geogr. Coll. Scotl. (1906) I. 8 Hard by this Church..stands a remarkable artificial Mote or little hill rising up like a Piramide.
1886 G. T. Stokes Ireland & Celtic Church (1888) 72 The interior chamber of the New Grange Moat.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 187/2 Moat, an earthen mound or tumulus; a large high mound.

Compounds

mote-castle n. rare = motte castle n. at motte n.2 Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > other types of fort
hendecagon1648
grand1670
etoile1727
vitrified fort1777
roundabout1795
ring fort1846
oppidum1847
sea-fort1879
motte-and-bailey1900
motte castle1912
mote-castle1919
murus gallicus1939
1919 Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 53 42 Such a fortress is well represented in the mote-castles of Dinan, Hastings and Rennes, in the Bayeux tapestry.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† moten.3

Forms: Middle English mot, late Middle English 1800s mote; Scottish pre-1700 mot.
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin mōtus.
Etymology: < classical Latin mōtus motion, movement (also used spec. of the motion of celestial objects) < movēre move v. + -tus, suffix forming verbal nouns.
Obsolete. archaic and poetic in later use.
The movement of a celestial object across the sky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > movement of heavenly bodies > [noun]
flighta1325
yerning1340
movinga1387
motec1392
lation1603
c1392 Equatorie of Planetis 36 (MED) As moche as the mene mot of the mone is more than the mene mot of the sonne.
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iii. 177 They accompt in theire tables of astrologye xxiiij starres beside the circle of the zodiac..and how the motes of theym may be seen.
a1500 (?1397) G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Digby 72) (1872) ii. Suppl. §44. 54 That þou fyndest in directe [wryte] in thy slate vnder thy rote, & adde hit [to-geder], and þat is thy mene mote.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 89 [The sun's] proper muyn and his mot raptyue.
1848 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 217 As motion in an atom leads at last To a world's orbit—mote and motion given.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

† moten.4

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French mote.
Etymology: < French mote (1692 in the passage translated in quot. 1693), regional variant of motte ball of earth that adheres to the root of a plant when dug up, specific use of motte mote n.2
Obsolete. rare.
= clod n. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > clod > adhering to roots
clod1693
mote1693
ball1771
earth-ball1815
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. iv. xxxvi. 61 Not that the Water of Rains often penetrates the Body of the Mote.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2019).

moten.5

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/
Origin: Of unknown origin.
Etymology: Origin unknown.The word bears no resemblance to any of the names for the tree or its seed in West African languages which are listed in H. M. Burkill Useful Plants West Trop. Afr. (ed. 2, 1997) IV. 92–3.
Now historical.
The oily seed of certain tropical African trees of the genus Carapa (family Meliaceae). mote grease, oil obtained from such seeds (cf. crab-oil n. at crab n.3).
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 252/2 Mote,..a name for the nut of the Carapa guineensis, used for extracting oil in Sierra-Leone.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 760/1 Mote, the nut of the West African Carapa guineensis.
1882 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 4) ii. iii. 483 An oil of a similar nature is also obtained from C. Touloucouna; it has been imported under the name of mote-grease.
1997 H. M. Burkill Useful Plants West Trop. Afr. (ed. 2) IV. 94 The seed [of Carapa procera] was at one time imported into Europe as ‘mote’ nuts. They are the source of ‘touloucouna’ oil previously used in France for manufacture of soap and candles.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

motev.1

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/
Forms:

α. Old English mot (1st and 3rd singular present indicative), Old English motan, Old English mote (singular present subjunctive), Old English moten (plural present subjunctive), Old English moto (Northumbrian), Old English moton (plural present indicative), Middle English met (transmission error), Middle English mod (transmission error), Middle English moȝt (rare), Middle English moht (rare), Middle English moot, Middle English moote, Middle English moten (plural), Middle English moyte (rare), Middle English mut, Middle English mute, Middle English mutt, Middle English–1500s mot, Middle English–1500s mott, Middle English–1500s motte, Middle English–1500s mutte, Middle English– mote, 1500s mothe, 1500s moughte, 1500s–1600s mought; Scottish pre-1700 moit, pre-1700 moitt, pre-1700 mott, pre-1700 motte, pre-1700 moyt, pre-1700 1700s–1800s mat, pre-1700 1700s–1800s mot, pre-1700 1700s– mote, 1700s–1800s met.

β. 2nd singular present indicative Old English–Middle English most, Middle English moste, Middle English must, Middle English muste, 1500s motest; Scottish pre-1700 moist, pre-1700 most.

See also must v.1
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian mōta to have to, be able to, be permitted to (West Frisian moatte to have to), Middle Dutch moeten to have to, be able to (Dutch moeten to have to), Old Saxon mōtan to have to, be able to, be permitted to (Middle Low German mȫten to have to, be permitted to), Old High German muozan to be able to, have to, be permitted to (Middle High German müezen to have to, be permitted to, German müssen to have to), Gothic -motan (in gamotan to find room, have permission) < a Germanic preterite-present verb, further related to Middle Dutch moete leisure, spare time (early modern Dutch moete ), Old Saxon mōta leisure, spare time (Middle Low German mōte ), Old High German muoza opportunity, permission (Middle High German muoze leisure, spare time, German Muße ), and (with j -suffixation) Old English ǣmetta leisure (compare empt v., empty adj.), Old High German muazi leisure, interval. The Germanic verb is traditionally assigned to Class VI, although it is noteworthy that forms with stem vowel a , the expected vowel of the present stem, are nowhere attested. Further etymology uncertain and disputed: perhaps ultimately < a lengthened ō -grade of the Germanic base of mete v.1, although the semantic development is difficult to account for (see note below). For other verbs of the preterite-present class in English compare can v.1, dare v.1, dow v.1, may v.1, mone v., owe v., shall v., tharf v., unne v., wit v.1If the connection with mete v.1 is correct, the development of sense may have been ‘to have something measured out; to find room; to have the opportunity, be permitted’ (according to this theory Gothic gamotan ‘to find room’ preserves an older sense). The further development of the meaning ‘to have to, must’ may have arisen from usage in negative contexts, where the two senses (‘may not’, ‘must not’) coincide closely; but see further F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax Eng. Lang. (1969) III. §1693. The verb seems not to have survived in colloquial use beyond the mid 16th cent. at the very latest, except regionally (chiefly in Scotland and Yorkshire). It was originally the present tense corresponding in Old English to the past tense mōste must v.1 After the development of the present-tense uses of the latter (chiefly in the ‘obligation’ sense), leading to its establishment as a separate verb, mote developed past-tense uses. In the archaistic use of Spenser and later writers it was almost always used as a past tense, except in traditional phrases. It was sometimes written moȝt , moht , in Middle English, and mought , moughte in early modern English (especially by archaizing writers), as a result of confusion with the past forms of may v.1 Since the spoken forms of mote and mought must have contained quite distinct phonetic segments, such confusion perhaps occurred where mote (or both forms) had ceased to exist in ordinary spoken use, although phonetic convergence is possible if both had developed weak forms under low stress (compare the late Middle English spelling mut(t)). Mote is the favoured form of archaizing writers from the late 16th cent. onwards; if the word had continued in ordinary use, the expected modern English form would be *moot. The survival of the inflected 2nd singular present indicative (Old English mōst) is doubtful after the late 14th cent., on account of its identity in form with the past tense, which by that time had already assumed the function of a present. With the early uses with implied infinitive or verb of motion understood, compare must v.1 3a(a), 3a(b).
Now archaic. A modal auxiliary, normally complemented by the bare infinitive.
I. As present tense.
†1. Expressing permission or possibility: am (is, or are) permitted to, have (or has) the opportunity to, may.
a. With infinitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > permission > be permitted [verb]
mayOE
moteOE
can1489
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > expressing possibility [verb]
mayeOE
moteOE
maunc1450
can1567
musta1796
α.
OE Beowulf 347 Gif he us geunnan wile, þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656 Ic..wile þes geornen þæt we moten þaer wircen an mynstre.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1266 Ȝiff þu..ȝeornesst tatt tu mote sket. Vpp cumenn inn till heoffne.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 114 Ȝif vs grace to wirch workis gode, To heuen þat we mot ent[er]..inn.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. 92 God grante I mot it wel achieve.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 903 We preyen yow..That in o grave yfere we moten lye.
a1450 ( Libel Eng. Policy (Laud) in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 188 I beseche God that some prayers devoute Mutt lett the seyde apparaunce probable Thys disposed wythought feyned fable.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 10 To the intent that all errour and abuse being cuttit away, we al on baith sydis mot knaw the veritie.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. viii. sig. Ggv Now mote ye vnderstand that [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. i. 3 Nor mote my shell awake the weary Nine To grace so plain a tale.
β. OE Beowulf 1671 Ic hit þe þonne gehate, þæt þu on Heorote most sorhleas swefan.
b. With implied infinitive taken from the context or with verb of motion understood. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Cynewulf Juliana 457 Þu scealt ondettan yfeldæda ma, hean helle gæst, ær þu heonan mote.
OE Genesis A (1931) 2475 Onfoð þæm fæmnum, lætað frið agon gistas mine, þa ic for gode wille gemundbyrdan, gif ic mot, for eow.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1304 Non of his men forðere ne mot But ysaac, is dere childe.
c1440 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Thornton) 74 (MED) Now wille I of þis mervelle men ȝif I mote.
†2. Expressing necessity or obligation: am (is, or are) obliged to, have (or has) to, must. Frequently with need or needs.
a. With infinitive. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > must of necessity [verb (intransitive)] > be absolutely compelled or obliged
shallc888
moteOE
must?c1225
bida1300
maunc1480
fall1681
get1767
α.
OE Beowulf 2886 Londrihtes mot þære mægburge monna æghwylc idel hweorfan.
OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 481 We moton eow secgan be eowrum andgite, þæt ge ealles ne beon þære lare bedælede, ne ure Drihtnes worda.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1051 Ah heo mot nede beien, þe mon þe ibunden bið.
c1330 Sir Degare (Auch.) 130 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale Middle Eng. Metrical Romances (1930) 292 (MED) Haue god dai! i mot gon henne.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 732 He moot reherce as neigh as evere he kan Euerich a word.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xiii. 261 For ar I haue bred of mele ofte mote I swete.
c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) 11587 Ye mote nedis [a1400 Vesp. For yow be-houes] alle thre Into Egipt lond fle.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. xx. sig. c.i I merueylle moche of thy wordes that I mote dye in bataille.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. vii. 154 But shepheard mought be meeke and mylde, Well-eyed, as Argus was.
β. OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 360 Gif ðu þonne yfel bist, þu most yfeles geswican, and to þam godan Fæder mid godnysse gebugan.OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfgeat (Hatton) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 10 Gif þu mycel wylle beon and mærlice geþogen, þonne most ðu hit onginnan on þære eadmodnysse.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 54 Cheos nu an of þes twa, for þe oðer þu most leten.?a1300 Iacob & Iosep (Bodl.) (1916) 69 (MED) Wende þou most afeld To seche þine breþren.c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 104 Maugree thyn heed thou most for indigence Or stele or begge or borwe thy despence.a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 14 Ȝef thou plese thy sauyoure, Ȝef thow be not grete clerk, Loke thow moste on thys werk.
b. With implied infinitive taken from the context or with verb of motion understood. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
lOE Laws: Gerefa (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 453 Hede se ðe scire healde, þæt he friðige & forðige ælce be ðam ðe hit selest sy; & be ðam he eac mot, ðe hine weder wisað.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 19 And þarto moten fif þing to bileuen in god.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 38 ‘Cuð me & ken þet ich easki efter.’ ‘ȝe,’ quoð he, ‘ich mot nede.’
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 35 Hwen ȝe alles moten [?c1225 Cleo. mote] forð..gað forð mid godes dred.
c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 294 But forth she moot [v.r. muste], wher so she wepe or synge.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 1475 Now fele I that myn herte moot a-two.
3. In an expression of wish, forming a periphrastic subjunctive: may. †Formerly often in emphatic or affirmative phrases, as so mote I thee, so mote I go, etc. Now archaic. so mote it be: (used in Middle English as a paraphrase for) amen; hence in Freemasonry, occultism, etc.
ΚΠ
α.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxl. 7 Ele synfulra æfre ne mote heafde minum hrinan ahwær.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 21 (MED) Ich am cristes maiden; alse þu hauest iseid, swo mote hit wurðe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 4481 A mote þu wel færen, & Delgan mi dohter.
a1300 Passion our Lord 71 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 39 (MED) ‘Iblessed,’ hi seyde, ‘mote he beo þe cumeþ on godes nome.’
a1300 in H. A. Person Cambr. Middle Eng. Lyrics (1953) 27 (MED) Led us neuere, Louerd, into no fondinge Ac lus us vt of vuele..Amen. so mote hit boe.
c1395 G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale 777 Lerneth to suffre or elles, so moot [v.r. must] I gon, Ye shul it lerne wher so ye wole or non.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5150 (MED) ‘Sais þou soth?’ ‘yaa, sa mot i the.’
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 136 (MED) So Crist mott me helpe.
1471 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 355 Goddys blissyng and myn mut ye haue both.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Fiiii Ye mary is it, ye so mote I goo.
1533 T. More Apologye 158 The kynge our souerayne lorde that now is and longe mote be, hath [etc.].
1573 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxix. 271 Long moit thir countreis leue in pace togidder.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N3v Well mote yee thee, as well can wish your thought.
1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Heautontimoroumenos v. iv, in Terence in Eng. 261 So mought thou liue after me and my husband Chremes, as thou art his and mine.
c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) I. 18 Quha God mote prosper.
1634 W. Lathum Phyala Lachrymarum, Meditationes (1932) VIII. 41 Blest mote hee ever bee, who ever can Compose the joyes, and sorrows of his mind.
1772 W. Preston Illustr. Masonry 46 Amen. So mote it be.
1802 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border I. 9 God mot thee save! brave Outlaw Murray.
1895 ‘H. Haliburton’ Dunbar: Poems adapted for Mod. Readers 84 Saint Francis, loving bee thee till, An' thankit mote thou be for thy gudewill.
1903 J. W. Riley His Pa's Romance 6 Some gal, er widder anyhow, That silly boy he's coaxed at last To marry him!.. An' ef he has, ‘so mote it be’!
1980 E. Jong Fanny i. xii. 93 ‘I shall not take Vengeance into my own Hands. The Goddess will do what She will.’ ‘So mote it be,’ said the Grandmaster.
β. a1456 (c1385) G. Chaucer Wordes unto Adam 3 Under thy long lokkes, thou most have the scalle, But after my makyng thou wryte more trewe.
II. As past tense (indicative or subjunctive).
4. Expressing permission or possibility: was (or were) permitted to, might, could.
a. With infinitive. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > expressing possibility [verb] > in the past
mustOE
motea1325
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2958 Ðan pharaon wurð war ðis bot, Ðis folc of londe funden ne mot.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 3449 (MED) So harde wiþ-in hir wombe þai faȝt atte ho ne mote reste day ne naȝt.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 93 (MED) He was so strang in his selfe, þat he mott withstond any temptacion of þe devull.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ii. sig. B4 Therefore he her did court, did serue, did wooe, With humblest suit that he imagine mot . View more context for this quotation
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne iii. xiii. 42 Within the postern stood Argantes stout To rescue her, if ill mote her betide.
1763 C. Churchill Prophecy of Famine 20 And from that day Mote never Sawney tune the merry lay.
1846 J. H. Dixon Ballads & Songs Peasantry Eng. (c1850) 130 The grizzliest beast that ere mote bee.
1885 in D. H. Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets 8th Ser. 171 There lived ae ancient Dominie As learned and crabbed as mote be.
†b. With implied infinitive taken from the context or with verb of motion understood. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3488 He ledde hem to ðe muntes fot..but non forðere ne mot.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 308 (MED) Ferrere mot he nouht, Scotlond forto se.
†5. Expressing necessity or obligation: was (or were) obliged to, had to. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 3225 (MED) Ther was ynowh to wepe and crie Among the Modres..Bot natheles thei moten bowe.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 207 Þere was no cyté, no town, no prelate, lord, knyte, or marchaunt, but þei mote lende þe kyng mony.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. viii. sig. S5v How euer loth he were his way to slake, Yet mote he algates now abide, and answere make. View more context for this quotation
1685 H. More Paralipomena Prophetica xiv. 115 Sith he mought needs sail by Judaea.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

motev.2

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/, Scottish English /mot/
Forms: 1800s– mote; Scottish pre-1700 moyt, pre-1700 1800s– mote, 1800s mott.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mote n.1
Etymology: < mote n.1
regional (originally Scottish). Now rare.
†1. Scottish.
a. intransitive. To find fault. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) Exclamacion 28 Far eithar is, quha list syt doun to mote [v.r. moyt], Ane othir sayaris faltis to spy and note.
b. transitive. To find fault with, carp or cavil at. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1896 D. Macara & D. Kippen Crieff II. 55 It's no every ane that can mote Mr. Imrie's sermons.
†2. intransitive. Scottish. Of the sun: to light up specks of dust in the atmosphere. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 672 That whole fragrant vista..moving with children playing in the sun as thick as that luminary motts.
3.
a. transitive. To remove specks, small particles, etc., from anything; spec. to remove motes from (wool or cotton). Cf. moting n.1, moter n. Sc. National Dict. (1965) records the general sense as still in use in Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire in 1963, and the specific sense relating to textiles as still in use in Dumfriesshire in 1948.The textiles sense relates usually to wool in Scotland and the north of England and to cotton in the United States.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. (at cited word) To Mote, to pick motes out of any thing.
1829 B. Hall Trav. N. Amer. III. 222 One hand can mote from twenty to thirty pounds per day.
1862 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 15 Feb. 200 (caption) Moting cotton.
†b. intransitive. U.S. Of cotton: to accumulate motes in the process of ginning. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1884 in R. H. Loughridge Rep. Cotton Production Georgia 141 Cotton yields..475 pounds of lint, rating about the same from old or fresh land, only the former ‘motes’ worse in ginning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

motev.3

Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /moʊt/
Origin: Probably formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: motor v.
Etymology: Probably shortened < motor v.
colloquial. Now rare.
intransitive. Of a motor or motor vehicle: to move, go. Of a person: to travel in a motor vehicle. Hence, more generally (Australian): to move quickly. Cf. motor v. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > riding in a vehicle > ride in a vehicle [verb (intransitive)] > ride in a wheeled vehicle > in a motor car
mote1883
motor1895
auto1903
automobile1924
1883 Lebanon (Indiana) Patriot 12 Apr. The Baltimore American begs Mr. Keely to let the public see his motor mote.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 18 Jan. 4/1 Leaving London about midday we shall mote to Ascot.
1905 A. M. Binstead Mop Fair 127 An imperious command to join Lady Thursa Rosacre..in twenty minutes time to mote to Brighton.
1919 Idaho Yarn 7 Nov. 3/2 A party of friends that had to hike back when their little ‘twin six beauty’ car refused to mote.
1932 E. Ellsberg S–54 225 What ails this tub, anyway? The other pigs've managed to keep on moting.
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 47 Mote, to move quickly (used of a vehicle or athlete).
1949 R. Park Poor Man's Orange 181 The pair of them surely would look tricks moting around together.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1eOEn.2a1300n.3c1392n.41693n.51858v.1OEv.2a1522v.31883
随便看

　

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间：2025/3/1 1:55:09