▪ I. moot, n.1
(muːt)
Forms: 1 ᵹemót, 2–3 imot, mot, 4–9 mote, 5–6 mute, 6 mout, 6–7 mute, 7 moat, mott, 5– moot.
[Early ME. mōt, imōt, repr. OE. mót neut. (before 12th c. found only in compounds) and ȥemót neut. (with prefix ᵹe-, y-; the prefix in ns. disappeared early in ME., so that the two forms became coincident); an adoption of the equivalent ON. mót neut., encounter, meeting, public assembly, may prob. have coalesced with the native word. The n., OTeut. *(ga)mōto{supm}, is found in OLow Frankish (Hildebrandsl.) muot encounter, MDu. moet neut., masc., gemoet neut. (mod.Du. gemoet), MHG. muoȥ, môȥ (and in LG. form muot), gemôt fem.; the derivative meet v. appears in all branches of Teut. The ultimate etymology of OTeut. *mōto{supm} is unknown.]
† 1. gen. Meeting, encounter. Obs.
| a 1000 O.E. Chron. an. 937 Gar mittinge gumena ᵹemotes wæpen ᵹewrixles. c 1400 Laud Troy-Bk. 10389 Many a man was ther assoyned Off ther lyff ther at her mote. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1529 Wallang fled our, and durst nocht bid that mute. |
2. An assembly of people, esp. one forming a court of judicature; a meeting, also the place where a meeting is held. Obs. exc. Hist. and arch. Cf. gemot, witenagemot; also burgh-mote, folk-mote, hall-mote, hundred-mote, etc.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 17 Hia ᵹesellas forðon Iuih in ᵹemotum. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1129 Þa hi ðider comen þa be gan þæt mot on Monendæiᵹ & heold on an to ðe Fridæig. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 83 Þe soðe quen shal a domes [dai] arisen, on þe michele mote, and fordemen þis frakede folc. c 1205 Lay. 11545 Hit wes witene-imot. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2458 Lo! al þat meidene mot & tet hird of heouene, cumeð her aȝein þe, mid kempene crune! c 1275 Passion our Lord 280 in O.E. Misc. 45 Heo by-wste þe dure þer al þat mot was. 13.. Childh. Jesus 260 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXIV. 330 Modire, one mee he [Caiphas] salle halde mote, And do bete my body all bare. 14.. Assise Reg. Willelmi xxv. in Acts Parlt. Scotl. (1845) I. 379 Þe twa hed mutis of þe Justice salbe haldin ȝerly at Edinburgh or Peblis. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 416 In Common Councels, at popular mootes, they could beare no sway. c 1670 Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1840) 169 After the Saxons had received the faith of Christ, those bishops that were amongst them, were always at the great moots in which they made their laws. 1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumb. I. 252 The whole country..seems to have been parcelled out into small districts,..in each of which there was a mote, or court of justice. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 302/2 In the Anglo-Saxon moots may be discerned the first germs of popular government in England. 1903 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 496 Necessary results of the Customs Union would be an imperial Moot containing representatives from the various parts of the Empire. |
† 3. Litigation; an action at law; a plea; accusation. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxvi. §2 Hwi bið elles ælce dæᵹ swelc seofung & swelce ᵹeflitu & ᵹemot & domas. a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 205 Nim mot for me and were me for ich am pine wurðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 16299 Þe man es noght ouertan in mote at smit him as tresun. Ibid. 27694 If þou bringes man in iuel blame, or mote,..of this behoues þe mak þi scrift. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) 438 Now is the Devill ready, I see, his moote to further agaynst me. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. i. i. A j b, Of mout or suite undreamde Of barre thou beares no kepe. c 1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 53 All mutes and pleyis quhilk happinis to rise within burgh, sould be pleadit and determinat within the samin. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 13 The order of mute or pley in court, is alreadie exponed. |
† 4. Argument; discussion; disputation; talking.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1321 Ah nis nawt lihtliche of þis meidenes mot; for, ich soð schal seggen, in hire ne moted na mon. c 1250 Owl & N. 468 Þeos vle luste & leyde on hord Al þis mot, word after word. a 1300 Cursor M. 11949 Was þar wit him na langer mote, Bot þar he fel dun at his fote. c 1400 Gamelyn 373, I swor in that wraththe and in that grete moot, That thou schuldest be bounde bothe hand and foot. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 457 Afterward, hee keepeth great Mootes about Qualities and Quantities. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue Ded., In the disputes of al purposes quherwith, after the exemple of the wyse in former ages, you used to season your moat. 1645 Milton Tetrach. 53 But to end this moot, the Law of Moses is manifest to fixe no limit therin at all. 1676 Doctrine of Devils 125 When the Lord hath decided the Controversy, & setled the Question, should men's Moots, groundless Opinions, small Arguments, and wilde Winter-Tales, unsettle us? |
5. Law. The discussion of a hypothetical case by students at the Inns of Court for practice; also a hypothetical doubtful case that may be used for discussion. Revived in the Inns of Court after falling into disuse, and introduced into universities where law is studied.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xiv, In the lernyng of the lawes of this realme, there is at this daye an exercise, wherin is a..shadowe..of the auncient rhetorike. I meane the pleadynge used in courte and Chauncery called motes. 1539 Magna Carta title-p., With an Alminacke & a Calender to know the mootes. Necessarye for all yong studiers of the lawe. 1605 Hist. Capt. Stukeley A 4, I had as liue you had seen him in the Temple walk, confering with some learned Councelor or at the moote vpon a case in Law. a 1650 Sir S. D'Ewes Autobiog. (1845) I. 232 On Thursday,..after our supper in the Middle Temple Hall ended, with another utter barrister, I argued a moot at the bench to the good satisfaction of such as heard me. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 271/2 There is a bailiff, or surveyor of the moots, annually chosen by the bench, to appoint the moot-men for the inns of chancery. 1855 Rep. Comm. Inns of Court 81 Mr. Lewis [c 1847]..also established what are called ‘Moots’, that is to say, discussions on points of Law? 1876 Times 8 Nov. 10/6 A moot was held last night in the hall of Gray's-inn on the following question. 1926 E. Weekley Words Anc. & Mod. 70 The practice of holding at the Inns of Court moots at which law students gain experience by arguing an hypothetical case. 1962 E. Mitchell Business Man's Lawyer 441/2 Moot, a gathering of lawyers or law students, to argue—semi-formally—interesting but academic points of law. 1973 Univ. of Leicester Prospectus 1974–75 facing p. 33 (caption) A ‘moot’ in the Department of Law. The Department has won the national ‘Observer’ mooting competition twice in the last three years. |
6. attrib. † moot-bell, a bell to summon people to a moot or assembly; † moot book, a book containing law cases to be ‘mooted’ by students; moot court, a court at which students argue imaginary cases for practice; † moot horn, a horn for summoning people to a moot; moot-stow Hist., the place where a moot was held. Also moot hall, -hill, -house, -man.
| a 1066 Laws Edw. Conf. c. 32 §4 Pulsatis campanis, quod Anglici uocant *motbele. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxiv. (1739) 42 If the emergent occasions were sudden and important, by extraordinary summons of ringing the Moot-bells. |
| 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. xvii. 61 b, Wee by a *moote-booke and a Brookes abridgement climbe to the Barre. |
| 1788 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 428 He gives lectures regularly, and holds *moot courts and parliaments wherein he presides. 1899 Law Quarterly XV. 422 A moot-court is held there [sc. at Gray's Inn] six or eight times a year. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xcviii. 376 In some law schools much educational value is attributed to the moot courts in which the students are set to argue cases. |
| 12.. Chron. Joc. de Brakelonda (Camden) 54 Habitaque disputatione de cujus manu cornu acciperent, quod dicitur *mot-horn. |
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 145/11 Forus, uel prorostra, *motstow on burᵹe. Ibid. 164/34 Forus, uel prorostra, motstow. 1898 Maitland Township & Borough 39 Cambridge is the right and proper moot-stow for the thegns of the shire. |
▪ II. moot, n.2 Mech.
(muːt)
1. A piece of hard wood hooped with iron at each end, used in block-making.
| 1815 in Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney). 1875 in Knight Dict. Mech. |
2. a. A ring-gauge for shaping treenails cylindrically to required size. b. Any particular size or diameter to which a treenail is to be made.
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Mooter, or Tree-Nail Mooter, a name given to the person who turns the tree-nails by the assistance of a moot. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 133 Mooting. Making a treenail exactly cylindrical to a given size or diameter, called the moot. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Moot, a gage-ring for determining the size of tree-nails. |
▪ III. moot, n.3 dial.
(muːt)
Also moote, mote, mott.
The stump of a tree.
| 1832 Planting 91 (Libr. Usef. Knowl.), Moot, in Devonshire, is the same with stool in other counties. 1862 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 2 There was a layer of motts, as the stumps of old trees are called in the west. 1863 J. R. Wise New Forest xiv. 150 Sailors..dredging..sometimes draw up great logs of wood, locally known as ‘mootes’. 1872 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 288 Old roots festooned with flowers—roots called here [Devon] ‘motes’. |
▪ IV. moot, a.
(muːt)
[Developed from the attributive use of moot n.1, to which some of the earlier examples should perhaps be referred.]
That can be argued; debatable; not decided, doubtful.
Orig. in moot case (? obs.), primarily meaning a case proposed for discussion in a ‘moot’ of law students. See moot n.1 5.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. 19/2 The like question [sc. whether ‘fish’ or ‘flesh’] may be mooued of the sell [= seal], and if it were well canuassed, it would be found at the leastwise a moot case. a 1650 Sir S. D'Ewes Autobiog. (1845) I. 240, I was scarce come into commons, but..I was set at work, arguing a moot-point or law-case on Thursday night after supper. a 1652 Brome Covent Gard. ii. i. (1658) 22 Now I'll put a plain home-spun case, as a man may say, which we call a moot-case. 1658–9 in Burton's Diary (1828) III. 46 Jersey is part of France; so it is a moot point whether a habeas corpus lies. 1732–3 Sir C. Wogan in Swift's Wks. (1824) XVII. 460 ‘My lords and gentlemen’, says he, ‘it is a very moot point to which of those causes we may ascribe the universal dulness of the Irish. 1736 West Let. in Gray's Poems (1775) 15 An inn of court is as horrid a place as a college, and a moot case is as dear to gentle dullness as a syllogism. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 271/2 Particular times are appointed for the arguing moot-cases. 1876 A. D. Murray Charnwood 110 It remains a moot problem to be guessed at. 1899 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. X. No. 38. 190 Those who are already well informed in essentials and quite prepared to discuss moot and difficult points. |
Add: b. U.S. (chiefly Law). Of a case, issue, etc.: not (or no longer) having practical significance or relevance; abstract, academic.
| 1899 Atlantic Reporter XLII. Jan.-Apr. 517/2 Because the plaintiff boarded the cars for the purpose of making a test case, this is a moot case, which the court will not entertain. 1946 Univ. Pennsylvania Law Rev. Jan. 126 A lawsuit which is, or has become, moot is neither a case nor a controversy in the constitutional sense and no federal court has the power to decide it. 1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 31 Aug. 18/4 Motion for an order dismissing this indictment for lack of prosecution is dismissed as moot. 1986 New Yorker 29 Sept. 112/3 By that point the judgment was more or less moot, since the commune was closing down. |
▪ V. moot, v.1
(muːt)
Forms: 1 mótian, 2 motien, 3 motin, 3–6 mote, mot, Sc. mwt, 3–4, 5 Sc. mut, mwte, 3–4, 5–7 Sc. mute, muit, 5 moyte, moytt, 4–7 moote, 7– moot.
[OE. mótian, f. mót moot n.1]
† 1. a. intr. To speak, to converse. In Sc. of 16–17th c. to complain, murmur. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric On N. Test. 15 (Gr.) Man mot on eornost motian wið his drihten, se þe wyle, þæt we sprecon mid weorcum wið hine. c 1205 Lay. 1443 Cniht þu ært muchel sot þat þu swa motest. a 1300 Cursor M. 22550 O murthes þan es nan to mote; Vnquemfulli þan sal þai quak, Þat all þe erth it sal to scak. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 60 This marschall that I of mwt, That schir Robert of Keth was cald..Quhen that he saw [etc.]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 138 Quhen he It fand na but forthir þare-o for to mute, one þe morne he [etc.]. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3328 The lord saw it was na bote Obout that mater mor to mote. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 178 In this mater heir will I mute no moir. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems ix. 12 If thou be he of vhom so many moots [etc.]. 1603 Proph. of Waldhaue (Bannatyne) 39 Mute on if ye may for mister ye haue. |
† b. trans. To say, to utter. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 430 Þat is my bale, but ony but, for þu na word wil to me mut. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 1439 Syr Tryamoure faght on fote, What schalle we more of hym mote? 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 375 For thou sik malice of thy maister mutis, It is wele sett that thou sik barat brace. 1529 Lyndesay Compl. 91 The first sillabis that thow did mute Was ‘pa, Da Lyn, vpon the lute’. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting 294 Of this mismade mowdewart, mischeif they muit. |
† 2. a. intr. To argue, to plead, to discuss, dispute, esp. in a law case. In later use esp. to debate an imaginary case of law, as was done by students in the Inns of Court. Obs.
| c 1000 tr. Basil's Hexameron iii. (1849) 6 Ðu scealt ᵹelyfan on ðone lifiᵹendan God, and na ofer ðine mæðe motian be him. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 43 Ofter he walde anuppon his underlinges mid wohe motien and longe dringan þenne he walde salmes singen oðer eani oðer god don. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 587 Makien se monie clerkes to cumene & se swiðe crefti of alle clergies..to motin wið a meiden! c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 58 The kyng com to London, with lawe to mote in benke. c 1350 St. Mary Magd. 360 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 85 Þe gude man saw it was no bute Ogayns hir wil more forto mote. a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) vi. 28 Oure men sall with ȝow mote. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 155 Heo ledeþ þe lawe as hire luste and loue⁓dayes makeþ, Þe Mase for a Mene mon þauȝ he mote euere. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 17236 Hem is no bote A-ȝeyn Gregays more to mote. c 1440 Jacob's Well xlvii. 295 To mote in wronge causys. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xx. 298 Syr, therof let vs moyte no mare. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 994 The byschop Synclar agayn fled in to But; With that fals king he had no will to mut. 1483 Cath. Angl. 247/2 To Mute, allegare. 1570 Levins Manip. 178/32 To moote, arguere, mouere dubia. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1536 It is a plaine case, whereon I mooted in our Temple. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 169, I meruaile, Master Selden should moote no better. 1628 Earle Microcosm., Aturney (Arb.) 66 He talkes Statutes as fiercely, as if he had mooted seuen yeers in the Inns of Court. 1637 Heylin Answ. Burton 9, I..marveile that you have not mooted all this while in some Inne of Chancery. a 1652 Brome Covent Gard. ii. i. (1658) 25 We will Cry mercy, you are busie, we will not moote to day then? |
† b. trans. To argue (a point, case, etc.). Obs.
| a 1470 in Hist. Coll. Citizen London (Camden) 60 Ande that yere were the plays holdyn and motyde at the Towre of London. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xiv, A case is appoynted to be moted by certayne yonge men, contaynyng some doubtefull controuersie. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 106 b, Quha sa mutes any partie in Court to the third day. 1770 Foote Lame Lover i. i. 24 Mrs. Circuit. Lord! I wonder Mr. Circuit you would breed that boy up to the bar. Sergeant. Why not, chuck? He has fine steady parts, and for his time moots a point―. 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. Sel. Wks. I. 22 If it were not a bad habit to moot cases on the supposed ruin of the constitution. 1796 J. Anstey Pleaders' Guide (1803) 145 Then dreams he that some point he's mooting. |
3. trans. To raise or bring forward (a point, question, subject, etc.) for discussion.
| 1685 Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 253 Politicians now a-days moot nothing else, but that the greatest Wisedom consists in making it appear. 1817 J. Gilchrist Intell. Patrimony 153 Those who chiefly moot the business. 1842 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 82, I am now awaiting the third request in confidence: if you see no symptoms of its being mooted, perhaps you will kindly propose it. 1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain xix. 285 And now..the question is at least plausibly mooted again. 1902 A. Lang Hist. Scot. II. ix. 202 The idea of their marriage had been mooted. |
▪ VI. moot, v.2 Obs. exc. dial.
(muːt)
[? f. moot n.3 (which, however, has not been found earlier than the 19th c.).]
trans. To dig up, to dig up by the roots. Also, to dig out, unearth (an otter). Hence ˈmooted ppl. a. (Her.), ˈmooting vbl. n.
| 1473 Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Somerset Rec. Soc.) 109 For motyng of the Asschys. xx{supd}. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. vii. (1660) 131 He beareth, Gules, the Stemme or Trunk of a Tree Eradicated, or Mooted up by the roots. 1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry i. iii. 23 Trees on a stock are called Trunked, which also if they are cut, they are called Couped; but if torn (as it were) it is called Irradicated, or Mooted up by the roots. 1823 New Monthly Mag. VIII. 500 Thrice did he 'scape us after we mooted him [sc. an otter] from the bank. 1847 Gloss. Heraldry 226 Mooted (or Moulted) up by the roots, eradicated. 1855 Archæologia XXXVI. 428 A huge portion of it [sc. this building] on all sides had, to use the provincial term, been ‘mooted up’, and carried away, for the sake of the stone for building purposes. 1867 Rock Jim an' Nell lxxxiv. (E.D.S. No. 76) Moot iv'ry brack about un. |
▪ VII. moot, v.3
(muːt)
[f. moot n.2]
intr. To fashion by means of a moot. Hence ˈmooted ppl. a., ˈmooting vbl. n.
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 133 Mooting. Making a treenail exactly cylindrical to a given size or diameter, called the moot: hence, when so made, it is said to be mooted. 1865 Navy Dockyard Expense Acc. 6 The planed deals and board, and mooted treenails must be separated from the rough articles to admit of valuation. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Mooting. 1880 Times 2 Dec. 8/2 Several thousands rough and mooted oak treenails. |
▪ VIII. moot
obs. form of mote n. and v.