Motte

See also: motte, mõtte, mötte, and møtte

English

Etymology

• As a French, Walloon, and West Flemish surname, from Old French mot, motte (“embankment, hill, mound”), from Medieval Latin mota (“fortified height”), which could be of Celtic origin and from Gaulish *mutt, *mutta (compare Welsh mwd (“vault, arch, canopy”), Irish móta (“moat”), though this itself could have been borrowed from the English) or otherwise of Germanic origin and from the root of mud. Compare Delamotte, Demotte, Lamotte.
• As an English surname, variant of Mott.
• As a German surname, perhaps from Motten in Bavaria, first attested 837, from the personal name Moto (compare *mōd (“courage, bravery”)).

Proper noun

Motte

1. A surname.

References

• Wolf-Armin von Reitzenstein: Lexikon fränkischer Ortsnamen. Herkunft und Bedeutung. Oberfranken, Mittelfranken, Unterfranken. C. H. Beck, München 2009, S. 151 (eingeschränkte Vorschau in der Google-Buchsuche).

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German motte, mutte, from Old Saxon *motta, *motto, from Proto-West Germanic *mottō, *moþþō, perhaps related to *muggju (“mosquito, midge”), or *maþō (“worm”).

Cognate with Dutch mot and English moth, which see for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔtə/

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔtə

Noun

Motte f (genitive Motte, plural Motten)

1. moth, any nocturnal butterfly
2. (specifically) moth, a member of Tineidae
3. (specifically) the clothing moth, Tineola bisselliella

Declension

Declension of Motte [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Motte	die	Motten
genitive	einer	der	Motte	der	Motten
dative	einer	der	Motte	den	Motten
accusative	eine	die	Motte	die	Motten

Derived terms

• die Motten kriegen
• einmotten
• Gespinstmotte
• Kleidermotte
• Lauchmotte
• Mehlmotte
• Mottenfraß
• Mottenkugel
• Mottenschildlaus

 

See also

• Falter m
• Tagfalter m
• Nachtfalter m
• Raupe f
• Schmetterling m
• Sommervogel m

Further reading

• “Motte” in Duden online
• “Motte” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache