motte

See also: Motte, mõtte, mötte, and møtte

English

Etymology 1

From French motte, from Anglo-Norman/Old French motte (“mound, hillock”). Doublet of moat.

Noun

motte (plural mottes)

1. A raised earth mound, often topped with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded with a ditch.

Derived terms

• motte-and-bailey

Translations

earth mound

• Galician: mota f

Etymology 2

Alternative forms.

Noun

motte (plural mottes)

1. Alternative form of mott

Anagrams

• motet, totem

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch mote, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”). Likely influenced by French motte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.tə/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mot‧te
• Rhymes: -ɔtə

Noun

motte f (plural mottes, diminutive mottetje n)

1. a raised earth mound, often topped with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded with a ditch; a motte

Derived terms

• mottekasteel

Anagrams

• totem

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French

Etymology

From Old French mote (“mound”), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill”), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔt

Noun

motte f (plural mottes)

1. motte (mound of earth)
2. clod, lump of earth
3. block (of butter)
4. (colloquial) (pubic) mound, mons veneris

Further reading

• “motte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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German

Verb

motte

1. inflection of motten:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

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Japanese

Romanization

motte

1. Rōmaji transcription of もって