Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A very small particle; a speck.
- auxiliary verb May; might.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In cotton-spinning, a piece of broken cotton-seed, cotton-leaf, etc.
- noun Boiled grains of maize, a dish much eaten in Peru and Bolivia.
- noun A small particle, as of dust visible in a ray of sunlight; anything very small.
- noun A stain; a blemish.
- noun An imperfection in wool.
- noun The stalk of a plant.
- noun A match or squib with which, before the introduction of the safety-fuse, it was customary to ignite the charge in blasting.
- To ride in a motor vehicle; engage in the sport of motoring.
- May; might: chiefly in the subjunctive: as, so mote it be.
- Must. See
must . - An obsolete form of
moot . - noun Motion.
- noun An obsolete form of
moat .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The flourish sounded on a horn by a huntsman. See
mot , n., 3, andmort . - verb obsolete See 1st
mot . - noun A small particle, as of floating dust; anything proverbially small; a speck.
- noun A meeting of persons for discussion.
- noun A body of persons who meet for discussion, esp. about the management of affairs.
- noun A place of meeting for discussion.
- noun [Obs.] the bell rung to summon to a
mote .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
particle ; aspeck . - noun A tiny computer for remote sensing. Also known as
smartdust . - verb archaic
May ormight . - verb
Must .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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We are still trying to use our moral rectitude, but that mote is pretty obvious at present, and the values are, to be honest, quite empty.
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And The Egoist is a satire; so much must be allowed; but it is a satire of a singular quality, which tells you nothing of that obvious mote, which is engaged from first to last with that invisible beam.
Essays in the Art of Writing Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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A mote, that is itself invisible, shall darken the august faculty of sight in a human eye -- the heavens shall be hidden by a wretched atom that dares not show itself -- and the station of a syllable shall cloud the judgment of a council.
Theological Essays and Other Papers — Volume 1 Thomas De Quincey 1822
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God's gifts, and often make them occasions of sin; but this outcry of the beam against the mote, which is so grievously prevalent in the religious world, is very unseemly.
Personal Recollections Abridged, Chiefly in Parts Pertaining to Political and Other Controversies Prevalent at the Time in Great Britain 1790-1846 Charlotte Elizabeth 1818
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I am sending every "mote" I can envision that you and yours will not suffer from the ides of March, otherwise known as that mess the Republicans got us into.
My Week, and Welcome To It Anne Johnson 2009
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Finally the _Lassie_, which had somehow been induced to "mote," was descried coming across the bay from the direction of the old fisherman's cabin.
The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay or, The Secret of the Red Oar Margaret Penrose
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Tyndale could hardly have known Wyclif's version, which was never printed and was rare in manuscript, but his use of certain words, such as "mote,"
The Age of the Reformation Preserved Smith 1910
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In the New Testament the word occurs only in Matt. 7: 3, 4, 5, and Luke 6: 41, 42, where it means (Gr. dokos) a large piece of wood used for building purposes, as contrasted with "mote" (Gr. karphos), a small piece or mere splinter.
Easton's Bible Dictionary M.G. Easton 1897
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Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine eye, and then thou shalt see clear to cast out the mote which is in the eye of thy brother.
The Holy Bible: Darby Translation Anonymous 1867
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September 5th, 2009 Hey Maa Mata Ji girl, Disha Wakhani is now very much aggravated by the word "mote".
Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 Bureau News 2010
oroboros commented on the word mote
"Fie! Fie! Ye visionary things,
Ye motes that dance in sunny glow,
Who base and build eternities
On briefest moment here below."
The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi, Richard F. Burton, translation
January 29, 2007
wytukaze commented on the word mote
Citation at uncleft.
November 14, 2008
manilamac commented on the word mote
Sorry, but I have a literary interest in semi-archaic words. This is not the time for it, but the day will come when we could look forward to, in this case say, statistics on the current usage and also the archaic usage—or at least the statistics for the noun and separate ones for the verb. So mote it be!
September 13, 2009
manilamac commented on the word mote
Sorry, but I have a literary interest in semi-archaic words. This is not the time for it, but the day will come when we could look forward to, in this case say, statistics on the current usage and also the archaic usage—or at least the statistics for the noun and separate ones for the verb. So mote it be!
September 13, 2009
AnWulf commented on the word mote
n. A mote, an atom :-- Mot attomos, Wrt. Voc. i. 284, 37: ii. 8, 10. Mote atomo, 9, 62. Tó hwí gesihst ðú ðæt mot (festucam) on ðínes bróðor égan, Mt. Kmbl. 7, 3, 5. Ðú gesáwe gehwǽde mot on ðínes bróðor eáge, R. Ben. 12, 3. Ðæt lytle mot ... ðone mot, Lk. Skt. Lind. 6, 41, 42.
Bosworth, J. (2010, March 21). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online (T. N. Toller & Others, Eds.). Mot. Retrieved August 22, 2011, from http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/023189
There is, AFAIK, no attested link between mot and mótan. Don't look at likeness and go from that.
August 22, 2011
bilby commented on the word mote
Food-wise has different meanings throughout South America, generally referring to a mush of cooked grains.
February 13, 2017