moth

English

A moth (Hypsopygia glaucinalis, syn. Orthopygia glaucinalis) (1)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
substratebor.?
Proto-Indo-European *mat-
Proto-Indo-European *-ḗn
Proto-Indo-European *matḗn
Proto-Germanic *maþôder.
Proto-West Germanic *moþþā
Old English moþþe
Middle English mothe
English moth

    From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa, from Proto-West Germanic *moþþā, from Proto-Germanic *maþô ~ *muttaz (“insect, worm, maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”).

    Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”) and Norwegian Nynorsk mott (“moth”).

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /mɒθ/
    • Audio (UK):(file)
    • (General American) enPR: môth, IPA(key): /mɔθ/
    • (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /mɑθ/, enPR: mŏth
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɒθ, -ɔːθ

    Noun

    moth (plural moths)

    2. Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
      • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
        Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
    3. (figurative) Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
    Hypernyms
    Hyponyms
    Species of moths

    * Entries with derived terms containing moth.

    Derived terms

    * Entries with derived terms containing moth.

    Translations

    Verb

    moth (third-person singular simple present moths, present participle mothing, simple past and past participle mothed)

    1. (intransitive) To hunt for moths.

    See also

    extant orders of insects in English

    Etymology 2

    Moth beans

    From Hindi मोठ (moṭh); see moth bean.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    moth (countable and uncountable, plural moths)

    1. A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).
    Synonyms
    Derived terms
    Translations

    References

    Etymology 3

    Alternative form of mot (“woman; wife”), likely under influence from Irish maith (“goodness”).

    Noun

    moth (plural moths)

    1. (Ireland, slang) A girlfriend.

    Etymology 4

    Noun

    moth (plural moths)

    1. Obsolete form of mote.
    2. (dated) A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.
      • 1895, Good Housekeeping, page 196, ISSN: 0731-3462
        To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours.
      • 1999, R. L. Gupta, Directory of Diseases & Cures: In Homoeopathy, →ISBN, page 254:
        Craves for sour things, chalks and eggs, fatty people with light brown spots on the face or liver spots, moth patches on forehead and cheek.
      • 2005, J. D. Patil, Textbook of Applied Materia Medica, →ISBN, page 108:
        There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose.

    Anagrams

    Old Irish

    Etymology

    From Proto-Celtic *muto-, from Proto-Indo-European *mHú-to- (“strong one”), perhaps later “penis”, related to Hittite [script needed] (mūwa, “something awe-inspiring”) and Luwian [script needed] (mūwa-, “to overpower”), possibly also Latin muto (“penis”).[1][2]

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈmoθ/

    Noun

    moth m

    1. (originally also) male sex organ, penis?
    2. amazement, stupor
      • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 68b9
        cia beith ar n‑acathar nech inna rétu inducbaidi in betha so, arnach·corathar i mmoth ⁊ machthad dia seirc ⁊ dia n‑accubur
        though it be that someone sees the glorious things of this world, that he may not be put in stupor and admiration by love for them and by desire for them

    Declension

    Masculine o-stem
    singular dual plural
    nominative moth — —
    vocative muith — —
    accusative mothN — —
    genitive muithL — —
    dative mothL, muth — —
    Initial mutations of a following adjective:
    • H = triggers aspiration
    • L = triggers lenition
    • N = triggers nasalization

    Mutation

    Mutation of moth
    radical lenition nasalization
    moth
    also mmoth in h-prothesis environments    		 moth
    pronounced with /β̃-/    		 moth
    also mmoth

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    References

    1. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009), “muto”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 282
    2. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “muto”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 398

    Further reading

    Welsh

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /moːθ/

    Noun

    moth

    1. nasal mutation of both

    Mutation

    Mutated forms of both
    radical soft nasal aspirate
    both foth moth unchanged

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

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