# mote

Pronunciation: say "MOHT" US /moʊt/, UK /məʊt/

## Noun

1. A very small particle, especially of floating dust; a speck. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A tiny bit of dust or dirt, so small it is hard to see.
   - _Sunlight revealed countless motes hanging in the still afternoon air._
   - _He brushed a single mote from the varnished surface of the painting._
2. A tiny computer used for remote sensing, forming one element of smartdust.
   - Simple: A very tiny computer that can sense its surroundings and send the information wirelessly.
   - _A single mote can monitor temperature, light, and motion before relaying the readings._
   - _Researchers deployed thousands of motes to map air quality across the city._

## Verb

3. May or might, expressing possibility, permission, or a wish, as in 'so mote it be'. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning 'may', used for what is possible or allowed, or to wish for something.
4. Must, expressing necessity or obligation. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Used to say that something must happen or has to be done.

## Noun

5. A meeting or assembly of people gathered to discuss and settle matters. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word for a meeting, or the group of people who met, to talk over and decide things.
6. A place where people met for discussion. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The place where people met to talk and decide things.

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — Proto-West Germanic *mot ("a speck or grain of dirt or sand") became Old English mot ("atom, mote, grain of sand") and then Middle English mot. It may be linked to English mud. Comparable words include West Frisian mot ("peat dust") and Italian mota ("mud").
**Meanings 3–4** — *med-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to acquire, possess, be in charge of," is probably the source of Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. This became Old English mōtan ("may, must, be allowed, be able to") and then Middle English moten. Dutch moeten and German müssen ("must") are cognates.
**Meanings 5–6** — A form of moot, "a meeting," from Old English gemot.
**Meaning 2** — This word is remote with its first syllable dropped, and it plays on the other mote, "a speck of dust."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mote (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).