mote
1 Americanverb
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of mote1
before 1000; Middle English, Old English mot speck; cognate with Dutch mot grit, sawdust, Norwegian mutt speck
Origin of mote2
before 900; Middle English mot ( e ), Old English mōt; cognate with German muss. See must 1
Explanation
Say the word: mote. It's short and quick, isn't it? The word corresponds to its meaning, which is something tiny: a speck of dust, a bit of fluff, a speckle of gold in the prospector's pan. We're not sure of the origin of the word mote, except that it is related to Germanic words meaning "sawdust or grit, tiny dust particles." We think of a mote as the tiniest of objects, but astronomer Carl Sagan demonstrates a different perspective when he looked at a photograph of Earth taken from a great distance by Voyager I and said, "We live on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
Vocabulary lists containing mote
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A third place to enjoy in Kent, according to the Frugal Mum list, is the award-winning Mote Park in Maidstone.
From BBC • May 29, 2025
And after the subcommittee vote, Ghosh and Mote took photos with Shealy, subcommittee Chairman Republican Sen. Tom Davis and others.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 17, 2024
To help spot corals in trouble, volunteer divers are also being trained as reef observers through Mote Marine Lab’s BleachWatch program.
From Scientific American • Aug. 20, 2023
“As morbid as it sounds, it’s a natural experiment,” said Jason Spadaro, a biological scientist who manages the Coral Reef Restoration Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory, an independent marine research institute.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2023
Mote, mōt, n. a particle of dust: a speck: a stain or blemish: anything very small.—adjs.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
