Where does “moot” come from?
Moot comes from Old English mot, from Proto-Germanic mōtaną, from Proto-Indo-European med-, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European roots related to mel- and mey-.
moot (English): Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve
Definitions
- Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve
Ancestry of “moot”, step by step
moot traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English mutual
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | mutual | Having the same relationship, each to each other;... |
| 2 | Middle French | mutuel | mutual |
| 3 | Latin | mūtuus | borrowed, lent |
| 4 | Latin | muto | I move, remove; I alter, change, modify,... |
| 5 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 6 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via Middle English mot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | mot | speck, particle |
| 2 | Old English | mōt | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | mōtą | meeting |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | meh₂d- | to be wet, to become wet; to meet, approach,... |
via Dutch moot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | moot | A thick slice or a cut, especially of fish; A... |