moot

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See also mõõt

Contents

English [edit]

WOTD – 25 August 2008    
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Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English moot, mot, ȝemot, from Old English mōt, gemōt (“moot, society, assembly, meeting, court, council, synod”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtą (“encounter, meeting, assembly”), from Proto-Indo-European *mōd-, *mād- (“to encounter, come”). Cognate with Scots mut, mote (“meeting, assembly”), Low German mote (“meeting”), Danish møde (“meeting”), Swedish möte (“meeting”), Icelandic mót (“meeting, tournament, meet”). Related to meet.

Pronunciation [edit]

Adjective [edit]

moot (comparative more moot, superlative most moot)

  1. (current in the UK, obsolete in the US) Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
    • 1770, Joseph Banks, The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, January 4, 1770 (published 1962):
      […] :indeed we were obligd to hawl off rather in a hurry for the wind freshning a little we found ourselves in a bay which it was a moot point whether or not we could get out of: […]
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 32:
      [T]he uncertain, unsettled condition of this science of Cetology is in the very vestibule attested by the fact, that in some quarters it still remains a moot point whether a whale be a fish.
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 477:
      The extent to which these Parisian radicals ‘represented’ the French people as a whole was very moot.
  2. (North America) Having no practical impact or relevance.
    That point may make for a good discussion, but it is moot.
    • 2007, Paul Mankowski, "The Languages of Biblical Translation", Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 4,
      The question [whether certain poetry was present in the original Hebrew Psalms] in our own time is moot, since various considerations have made it certain that, of all the hazards presented by biblical translation, a dangerous excess of beauty is not one of them.
  3. (North America, chiefly law) Being an exercise of thought; academic.
    Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day (1903) Moot Points: Friendly Disputes on Art and Industry Between Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
subject to discussion
having no practical importance

Noun [edit]

moot (plural moots)

  1. A moot court.
  2. A system of arbitration in many areas of Africa in which the primary goal is to settle a dispute and reintegrate adversaries into society rather than assess penalties.
  3. (Scouting) A gathering of Rovers (18 - 26 year-old Scouts). Usually a camp lasting 2 weeks.
  4. (paganism) A social gathering of pagans, normally held in a public house.
  5. (historical) An assembly (usually for decision making in a locality). [from the 12th c.]
Derived terms [edit]

Verb [edit]

moot (third-person singular simple present moots, present participle mooting, simple past and past participle mooted)

  1. To bring up as a subject for debate, to propose.
  2. To discuss or debate.
  3. (US) To make or declare irrelevant.
Translations [edit]
to bring up as a subject for debate, to propose
to discuss or debate

External links [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

Origin unknown.

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ˈmʊt/

Noun [edit]

moot (plural moots)

  1. (Australia) Vagina.

References [edit]

  • 2005, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, ISBN 041525938X, page vol. 2, p. 1320:

Anagrams [edit]

Dutch [edit]

Noun [edit]

moot m (plural moten, diminutive mootje)

  1. a thick slice of (usually) fish

Related terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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