Jump to content

moth

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
A moth (Hypsopygia glaucinalis, syn. Orthopygia glaucinalis) (1)

Etymology 1

[edit]

From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa (“any destructive insect larva”), from Proto-West Germanic *moþþō, *mottō, from Proto-Germanic *muþþô, *muttô (“moth, worm”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

moth (plural moths)

  2. Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
    • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
      Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
  3. (figurative) Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
Hypernyms
[edit]
Derived terms
[edit]
Derived terms

* Entries with derived terms containing ''moth''

Translations
[edit]

Verb

[edit]

moth (third-person singular simple present moths, present participle mothing, simple past and past participle mothed)

  1. (intransitive) To hunt for moths.

See also

[edit]
extant orders of insects in English

Etymology 2

[edit]
Moth beans

From Hindi मोठ (moṭh); see moth bean.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

moth (countable and uncountable, plural moths)

  1. A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).
Synonyms
[edit]
Derived terms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]

References

[edit]

Etymology 3

[edit]

Alternative form of mot (“woman; wife”), likely under influence from Irish maith (“goodness”).

Noun

[edit]

moth (plural moths)

  1. (Ireland, slang) A girlfriend.

Etymology 4

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

moth (plural moths)

  1. Obsolete form of mote.
  2. (dated) A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.
    • 1895, Good Housekeeping, page 196, ISSN: 0731-3462
      To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours.
    • 1999, R. L. Gupta, Directory of Diseases & Cures: In Homoeopathy, →ISBN, page 254:
      Craves for sour things, chalks and eggs, fatty people with light brown spots on the face or liver spots, moth patches on forehead and cheek.
    • 2005, J. D. Patil, Textbook of Applied Materia Medica, →ISBN, page 108:
      There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose.

References

[edit]


Anagrams

[edit]

Old Irish

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

The word also carried the original meaning of "male organ," from Proto-Celtic *muto-, from Proto-Indo-European *mHú-to- (“strong one”), perhaps later "penis," related to Hittite [script needed] (mūwa, “something awe-inspiring”) and Luwian [script needed] (mūwa-, “to overpower”), possibly also Latin muto (“penis”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

moth m

  1. amazement, stupor
    • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 68b9
      cia beith ar n‑acathar nech inna rétu inducbaidi in betha so, arnach·corathar i mmoth ⁊ machthad dia seirc ⁊ dia n‑accubur
      though it be that someone sees the glorious things of this world, that he may not be put in stupor and admiration by love for them and by desire for them

Declension

[edit]
Masculine o-stem
singular dual plural
nominative moth — —
vocative muith — —
accusative mothN — —
genitive muithL — —
dative mothL, muth — —
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization

Mutation

[edit]
Mutation of moth
radical lenition nasalization
moth
also mmoth after a proclitic
ending in a vowel 		moth
pronounced with /β̃(ʲ)-/ 		unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “muto”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 282
  2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “muto”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 398

Further reading

[edit]

Welsh

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

moth

  1. Nasal mutation of both.

Mutation

[edit]
Mutated forms of both
radical soft nasal aspirate
both foth moth unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=moth&oldid=84611304"