motto

See also: Motto, mottó, and mòtto

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c.. Doublet of mot.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑt.oʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒtəʊ/

Noun

motto (plural mottos or mottoes)

1. (heraldry) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
2. A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
   • May 25 1715, Joseph Addison, The Freeloader No. 45

     It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... Serve God, and be cheerful.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:

     “ […] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
       Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […] ”

3. (obsolete) A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:saying

Translations

sentence, phrase or word forming part of an heraldic achievement

• Afrikaans: leuse
• Arabic: شِعَار‎ (ar) m (šiʿār)
• Armenian: նշանաբան (hy) (nšanaban)
• Azerbaijani: şüar (az)
• Basque: goiburu
• Belarusian: дэві́з m (devíz)
• Bengali: নীতিবাক্য (nītibakjô)
• Breton: sturienn m
• Bulgarian: деви́з (bg) m (devíz)
• Burmese: ဆောင်ပုဒ် (my) (hcaungpud)
• Catalan: divisa f, lema (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 座右銘 (zh), 座右铭 (zh) (zuòyòumíng)

• Czech: motto (cs) n
• Danish: motto n
• Dutch: motto (nl) n, wapenspreuk (nl) m, (personal) lijfspreuk (nl) m
• Esperanto: moto (eo)
• Estonian: tunnuslause
• Finnish: motto (fi), tunnuslause (fi), vaalilause
• French: devise (fr) f
• Georgian: დევიზი (devizi)
• German: Motto (de) n, Wahlspruch m
• Greek: ρητό (el) n (ritó)
• Hebrew: מוֹטוֹ‎ m (moto)
• Hindi: ध्येयवाक्य (dhyeyavākya), सिद्धांत (hi) m (siddhānt), नीतिवाक्य (nītivākya)
• Hungarian: mottó (hu)
• Icelandic: kjörorð (is) n
• Ido: moto (io)
• Indonesian: semboyan (id)
• Irish: mana (ga) m
• Italian: motto (it) m
• Japanese: モットー (mottō), 座右の銘 (ja) (ざゆうのめい, zayūnomei), 標語 (ja) (ひょうご, hyōgo)
• Kazakh: ұран (uran)
• Korean: 좌우명 (jwaumyeong), 모토 (ko) (moto), 표어 (ko) (pyo-eo)

• Kyrgyz: ураан (ky) (uraan)
• Lao: ຄຳຂວັນ (khamk wan)
• Latvian: devīze m
• Lithuanian: devizas m
• Macedonian: мото n (moto), гесло n (geslo)
• Malay: slogan, cogan kata, moto
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: motto (no) n

  Nynorsk: motto n

• Occitan: devisa f
• Persian: شعار‎ (fa) (šo'âr)
• Polish: dewiza (pl) f, motto (pl) n
• Portuguese: lema (pt) m
• Romanian: deviză (ro) f
• Russian: деви́з (ru) m (devíz)
• Scottish Gaelic: facal-suaicheantais m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: деви́за f, мото m

  Roman: deviza (sh) f, moto (sh) m

• Slovak: motto n
• Slovene: moto n
• Spanish: mote (es) m, divisa (es) f (extends to figures), lema (es) m
• Swedish: motto (sv) n, valspråk (sv) n
• Tagalog: bansag, lema
• Tajik: шиор (šior)
• Tamil: குறிக்கோளுரை (kuṟikkōḷurai)
• Thai: คำขวัญ (th) (kam-kwǎn)
• Turkish: slogan (tr), motto (tr), şiar (tr)
• Turkmen: şygar
• Ukrainian: деві́з m (devíz), га́сло n (háslo)
• Uzbek: deviz (uz), shior (uz)
• Vietnamese: tiêu ngữ (vi)
• Welsh: arwyddair (cy) m
• West Frisian: biedwurd

suggestive sentence, phrase or word

• Armenian: նշանաբան (hy) (nšanaban), բնաբան (hy) (bnaban)
• Catalan: lema (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 格言 (zh) (géyán), 座右銘 (zh), 座右铭 (zh) (zuòyòumíng)

• Czech: motto (cs) n
• Danish: motto n
• Dutch: motto (nl) n
• Finnish: motto (fi), tunnuslause (fi)
• French: devise (fr) f
• German: Motto (de) n

• Hungarian: mottó (hu)
• Japanese: モットー (mottō), 標語 (ja) (ひょうご, hyōgo)
• Polish: dewiza (pl) f, motto (pl) n
• Portuguese: lema (pt) m
• Russian: деви́з (ru) m (devíz)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceann-sgrìobhadh m
• Spanish: lema (es) m
• Swedish: motto (sv) n
• Tagalog: kasabihan
• Turkish: motto (tr)

Further reading

• motto (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Czech

Alternative forms

• moto n (less common)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmoto]
• Rhymes: -oto

Noun

motto n

1. motto
2. epigraph

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	motto	motta
genitive	motta	mott
dative	mottu	mottům
accusative	motto	motta
vocative	motto	motta
locative	mottu	mottech
instrumental	mottem	motty

See also

• krédo

Further reading

• motto in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• motto in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Danish

Noun

motto n (singular definite mottoet, plural indefinite mottoer)

1. motto

References

• “motto” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Etymology

From Italian motto (“a word, a saying”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mot‧to

Noun

motto n (plural motto's, diminutive mottootje n)

1. motto
2. (heraldry) motto

Hyponyms

• leus, leuze
• wapenspreuk

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Finnish

Noun

motto

1. A motto (sentence or a phrase with guiding principle).
2. (heraldry) A motto.

Declension

Inflection of motto (Kotus type 1/valo, tt-t gradation)
nominative		motto	motot
genitive		moton	mottojen
partitive		mottoa	mottoja
illative		mottoon	mottoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		motto	motot
accusative	nom.	motto	motot
	gen.	moton
genitive		moton	mottojen
partitive		mottoa	mottoja
inessive		motossa	motoissa
elative		motosta	motoista
illative		mottoon	mottoihin
adessive		motolla	motoilla
ablative		motolta	motoilta
allative		motolle	motoille
essive		mottona	mottoina
translative		motoksi	motoiksi
instructive		—	motoin
abessive		mototta	motoitta
comitative		—	mottoineen

Possessive forms of motto (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	mottoni	mottomme
2nd person	mottosi	mottonne
3rd person	mottonsa

Synonyms

• tunnuslause
• vaalilause (in heraldry sense)

Anagrams

• motot

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin muttum (“mutter”). Compare Catalan and French mot (“word”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔt.to/
• Rhymes: -ɔtto

Noun

motto m (plural motti)

1. witty remark
2. motto, maxim
3. posy (motto inscribed inside a ring)

Descendants

• → English: motto
• → German: Motto

Further reading

• motto in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

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Japanese

Romanization

motto

1. Rōmaji transcription of もっと

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Maquiritari

Noun

motto

1. worm

References

• Ed. Key, Mary Ritchie and Comrie, Bernard. The Intercontinental Dictionary Series, Carib (De'kwana).

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Nauruan

Noun

motto

1. motto

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Italian motto

Noun

motto n (definite singular mottoet, indefinite plural motto or mottoer, definite plural mottoa or mottoene)

1. a motto

References

• “motto” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Italian motto

Noun

motto n (definite singular mottoet, indefinite plural motto, definite plural mottoa)

1. a motto

References

• “motto” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Etymology

From Italian motto, from Latin muttum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔt.tɔ/

Noun

motto n

1. philosophy, motto, watchword, byword

   Synonyms: dewiza, credo

2. (literature) epigraph (literary quotation placed at the beginning of a text)

   Synonym: epigraf

Declension

declension of motto

	singular	plural
nominative	motto	motta
genitive	motta	mott
dative	mottu	mottom
accusative	motto	motta
instrumental	mottem	mottami
locative	motcie	mottach
vocative	motto	motta

Further reading

• motto in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• motto in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

motto n

1. motto

Declension

Declension of motto
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	motto	mottot	motton	mottona
Genitive	mottos	mottots	mottons	mottonas

Synonyms

• valspråk