mote

¹ American  

[moht] / moʊt /

noun

1. a small particle or speck, especially of dust.

2. moit.

---

mote ² American  

[moht] / moʊt /

verb

Archaic.

past

moste

1. may or might.

---

mote ¹ British  

/ məʊt /

noun

1. a tiny speck

---

mote ² British  

/ məʊt /

verb

1. archaic (takes an infinitive without to) may or might

---

Other Word Forms

• motey adjective

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."

Example Sentences

But even he receives a mote of benediction, especially when he commits sins he can’t undo.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2025

Bangladesh, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, has raised fuel prices by mote than 50% in just a week.

From BBC • Aug. 13, 2022

He noted that Jesus Christ, who was the original pundit, said to “cast out the beam in our own eye before we cast out the mote in the eye of another.”

From Slate • Feb. 25, 2022

The bee tugged diligently at a mote of the muck with her mouthparts, then carried it away.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2020

I believe our future depends on how well we know this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan