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Webster 1913 Edition

Moat

Moat

,
Noun.
[OF.
mote
hill, dike, bank, F.
motte
clod, turf: cf. Sp. & Pg.
mota
bank or mound of earth, It.
motta
clod, LL.
mota
,
motta
, a hill on which a fort is built, an eminence, a dike, Prov. G.
mott
bog earth heaped up; or perh. F.
motte
, and OF.
mote
, are from a LL. p. p. of L.
movere
to move (see
Move
). The name of
moat
, properly meaning, bank or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F.
dike
and
ditch
.]
(Fort.)
A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch.

Moat

,
Verb.
T.
To surround with a moat.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition

Moat

MOAT

,
Noun.
In fortification, a ditch or deep trench round the rampart of a castle or other fortified place. It is sometimes filled with water.

MOAT

,
Verb.
T.
To surround with a ditch for defense; as a moated castle.

Definition 2025

moat

moat

See also: möät

English

Noun

moat ‎(plural moats)

  1. A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.
  2. An aspect of a business which makes it more "defensible" from competitors, either because of the nature of its products, services, franchise or other reason.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Finnish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmoɑt/
  • IPA(key): /ˈmoːɑt/
  • Hyphenation: mo‧at

Noun

moat

  1. plural of moa

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English mote, from Old French mote ("mound, embankment"; compare also Old French motte ‎(“hillock, lump, clod, turf”), from Medieval Latin mota ‎(“a mound, hill, a hill on which a castle is built, castle, embankment, turf”)), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Old Frankish *mot, *motta ‎(“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz ‎(“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mut- ‎(“dark, dirty”). Cognate with Alemannic German Mott, Mutte ‎(“peat, turf”), Bavarian Mott ‎(“peat, turf”), Dutch dialectal mot ‎(“dust, fine sand”), Saterland Frisian mut ‎(“grit, litter, humus”), Swedish muta ‎(“to drizzle”), Old English mot ‎(“speck, particle”). More at mote, mud, smut.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /məʊt/
  • Rhymes: -əʊt
  • (US) IPA(key): /moʊt/
  • Rhymes: -oʊt
  • Homophone: mote

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