English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊt
• Homophone: moat

Noun

mote ‎(plural motes)

1. A small particle; a speck.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Matthew 7:5:

     Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

2. A tiny computer for remote sensing. Also known as smartdust.

See also

• floater

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English moten, from Old English mōtan ‎(“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, may, must”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną ‎(“to be able to, have to, be delegated”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- ‎(“to acquire, possess, be in charge of”). Cognate with Dutch moeten ‎(“to have to, must”), German müssen ‎(“to have to, must”), Danish måtte ‎(“might, may”), Ancient Greek μέδω ‎(médō, “to prevail, dominate, rule over”). Related to empty.

Verb

mote ‎(third-person singular simple present mote, present participle -, simple past and past participle must)

1. (now archaic) May or might. [from 9th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:

     he […] kept aloofe for dread to be descryde, / Untill fit time and place he mote espy, / Where he mote worke him scath and villeny.

2. (obsolete) Must. [9th-17th c.]
3. (now archaic) Forming subjunctive expressions of wish: may. [from 9th c.]
   • 1980, Erica Jong, Fanny:

     ‘I shall not take Vengeance into my own Hands. The Goddess will do what She will.’ ‘So mote it be,’ said the Grandmaster.

Usage notes

• Generally takes an infinitive without to.

Etymology 3

See moot ‎(“a meeting”).

Noun

mote ‎(plural motes)

1. (obsolete) A meeting for discussion.

   a wardmote in the city of London

2. (obsolete) A body of persons who meet for discussion, especially about the management of affairs.

   a folkmote

3. (obsolete) A place of meeting for discussion.

Derived terms

• mote bell

Anagrams

• tome

Italian

Noun

mote f pl

1. plural of mota

Anagrams

• temo

Japanese

Romanization

mote

1. rōmaji reading of もて

Latin

Participle

mōte

1. vocative masculine singular of mōtus

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French mode

Noun

mote m ‎(definite singular moten, indefinite plural moter, definite plural motene)

1. fashion

Derived terms

• motebevisst
• motehus
• moteverden

References

• “mote” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French mode

Noun

mote m ‎(definite singular moten, indefinite plural motar, definite plural motane)

1. fashion

Derived terms

• motebevisst
• motehus
• motemedveten, motemedviten

References

• “mote” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Noun

mote m (plural motes)

1. motto

Spanish

Etymology 1

From French or Provençal mot ‎(“saying”).

Noun

mote m ‎(plural motes)

1. nickname
2. motto (heraldry)

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Quechua mut'i.

Noun

mote m ‎(plural motes)

1. (South America) hulled cereal, especially pearl barley and hominy

Derived terms

• mote de maíz
• mote de trigo

Volapük

Noun

mote

1. dative singular of mot