English
mote
Mote comes from Old English mot ‘grain of sand’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *mot.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mot‘grain of dirt or sand, speck’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150mot‘grain of sand’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1611mote
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mot‘grain of dirt or sand, speck’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150mot‘grain of sand’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1611mote
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of…”
The story
Perhaps linked to English mud.
Linked words
through Old English mot ‘grain of sand’
through Middle English mot
Today it means
noun A small particle; a speck.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *mot / mote