moot

[moot]

adjective

1. open to discussion or debate; debatable; doubtful.

   Whether that was the cause of their troubles is a moot point.

   Synonyms: unsettled, disputed, disputable
   Antonyms: indisputable

2. of little or no practical value, meaning, or relevance; purely academic.

   In practical terms, the issue of her application is moot because the deadline has passed.

3. Chiefly Law.,  not actual; theoretical; hypothetical.

verb (used with object)

1. to present or introduce (any point, subject, project, etc.) for discussion.

   Synonyms: discuss, dispute, debate
   Antonyms: agree

2. to reduce or remove the practical significance of; make purely theoretical or academic.

3. Archaic.,  to argue (a case), especially in a mock court.

noun

1. an assembly of the people in early England exercising political, administrative, and judicial powers.

2. an argument or discussion, especially of a hypothetical legal case.

3. Obsolete.,  a debate, argument, or discussion.

moot

/ muːt /

adjective

1. subject or open to debate

   a moot point

verb

1. (tr) to suggest or bring up for debate

2. (intr) to plead or argue theoretical or hypothetical cases, as an academic exercise or as vocational training for law students

noun

1. a discussion or debate of a hypothetical case or point, held as an academic activity

2. (in Anglo-Saxon England) an assembly, mainly in a shire or hundred, dealing with local legal and administrative affairs

Other Word Forms

• mooter noun
• mootness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of moot¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun mot(e) “meeting, assembly,” Old English gemōt; cognate with Old Norse mōt, Dutch gemoet “meeting”; meet ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of moot¹

Old English gemōt; compare Old Saxon mōt, Middle High German muoze meeting

Example Sentences

The US leader also threatened to pull out of a mooted meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea later this month.

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All of that makes questions about where Warsh would set rates more or less moot, in his mind.

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Campbell would almost certainly have been one of those ministers but, in the event, the Labour landslide rendered the agreement moot.

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That was mooted to me by one insider this morning.

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Locations from Geneva and Vienna to Budapest or Istanbul have all been mooted as possible venues.

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Related Words

• debatable 
• problematic 
• unresolved 
• unsettled