- As aFrench,Walloon, andWest Flemish surname, fromOld Frenchmot, motte(“embankment, hill, mound”), fromMedieval Latinmota(“fortified height”), which could be ofCeltic origin and fromGaulish*mutt,*mutta (compareWelshmwd(“vault, arch, canopy”),Irishmóta(“moat”), though this itself could have been borrowed from the English) or otherwise ofGermanic origin and from the root ofmud. CompareDelamotte,Demotte,Lamotte.
- As an English surname, variant ofMott.
- As aGerman surname, perhaps fromMotten in Bavaria, first attested 837, from the personal nameMoto (compare*mōd(“courage, bravery”)).
Motte
- Asurname.
- Wolf-Armin von Reitzenstein: Lexikon fränkischer Ortsnamen. Herkunft und Bedeutung. Oberfranken, Mittelfranken, Unterfranken. C. H. Beck, München 2009, S. 151 (eingeschränkte Vorschau in der Google-Buchsuche).
Borrowed fromMiddle Low Germanmotte,mutte, fromOld Saxon*motta,*motto, fromProto-West Germanic*mottō,*moþþō, perhaps related to*muggju(“mosquito, midge”),[1] or*maþō(“worm”).[2]
Cognate withDutchmot andEnglishmoth, which see for more.
Motte f (genitiveMotte,pluralMotten)
- moth, anynocturnalbutterfly
- (specifically) moth, a member ofTineidae
- (specifically) theclothing moth,Tineola bisselliella
Declension ofMotte [feminine]
- “Motte” inDuden online
- “Motte” inDigitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
