moten

See also: Moten and möten

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Noun

moten

1. plural of moot

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English mōtan, from Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːtən/

Verb

moten (auxiliary)

1. To have or need to; must.
   • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight's Tale”, in Canterbury Tales, lines 875–877, 885:

     And ceꝛtes, if it neꝛe too long to heeꝛe, / I wold have told you fully the manneꝛe / How wonnen was the regne of Femenye / By Theſeus and by his chivalrye, […] / But all that thing I mot as now foꝛbeꝛe.

     And certainly, if it weren't too long to hear / I would have told you the manner / How the realm of Femeny was won / By Theseus and by his chivalry, […] / But I must leave all that alone for now.

2. To feel strongly obliged to; should (really).
3. To be able to; might, can.
4. To be permitted to; may, can.
5. To be about to or going to; will, shall.

Usage notes

As in Modern English, what are historically the past forms of this verb are frequently used with present or even future semantics; see the conjugation table.

Conjugation

Conjugation of moten (preterite-present, defective)

infinitive	—
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	mot, moste	moste
2nd-person singular	most, mostest	mostest
3rd-person singular	mot, moste	moste
subjunctive singular	mote, moste
imperative singular	—	—
plural1	moten, mote, mosten, moste	mosten, moste
imperative plural	—	—
participles	—	—

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: mote; must
• Scots: mote, mat; most
• Yola: mosth

References

• “mọ̄ten, v.²”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-10-24.

Etymology 2

From Old English mōtian (“to speak, converse, discuss”), from Proto-West Germanic *mōtijan (“to meet, encounter”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtijaną, a denominative of *mōtą (“meeting”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoːtən/

Verb

moten

1. to speak, talk, say

Conjugation

Conjugation of moten (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) moten, mote
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	mote	moted
2nd-person singular	motest	motedest
3rd-person singular	moteth	moted
subjunctive singular	mote
imperative singular		—
plural1	moten, mote	moteden, motede
imperative plural	moteth, mote	—
participles	motynge, motende	moted, ymoted

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: moot
• Yola: mot

References

• “mọ̄ten, v.³”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

moten

1. Alternative form of motoun

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

moten m

1. definite singular of mote

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

moten m

1. definite singular of mote

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoː.ten/

Verb

mōten

1. plural present subjunctive of mōtan

Swedish

Noun

moten

1. definite plural of mot