Where does “moot point” come from?
moot point (English) comes from English moot, from English mutual, from Middle French mutuel, from Latin mūtuus, from Latin muto, from Latin -ium, from Latin -ius, from Proto-Italic -jōs — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.
moot point (English): An issue that is subject to, or open for, discussion or debate, to which no satisfactory answer is found; originally, one to be definitively determined by an assembly of the people
Definitions
- An issue that is subject to, or open for, discussion or debate, to which no satisfactory answer is found; originally, one to be definitively determined by an assembly of the people
Ancestry of “moot point”, step by step
moot point traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English moot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | moot | Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve |
| 2 | English | mutual | Having the same relationship, each to each other;... |
| 3 | Middle French | mutuel | mutual |
| 4 | Latin | mūtuus | borrowed, lent |
| 5 | Latin | muto | I move, remove; I alter, change, modify,... |
| 6 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 7 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via English point
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | point | A discrete division of something; A sharp... |
| 2 | Middle English | point | — |
| 3 | Old French | point | a sting; a prick; moment; time; dot |
| 4 | Latin | pūnctum | point |
| 5 | Latin | punctus | pricked, punctured, pierced, having been pricked;... |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |