Where does “motey” come from?

motey (English) comes from English mote, from English motte, from French motte, from Old French mote, from Medieval Latin mota, from Frankish *mot, from Proto-Germanic *motta, from Proto-Germanic mutô — dark, dirty.

motey (English): Full of motes

Definitions

  1. Full of motes

Ancestry of “motey”, step by step

motey traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English mote

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmoteA small particle; a speck; May or might; Must
2EnglishmotteA raised earth mound, often topped with a wooden...
3Frenchmottemotte; clod, lump of earth; block
4Old Frenchmotemound, embankment
5Medieval Latinmotaa mound, hill; nominative feminine singular of...
6Frankish*mot
7Proto-Germanic*motta
8Proto-Germanicmutô
9Proto-Indo-European(s)mut-dark, dirty

via English Y

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishYA figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y; A...
2EnglishyuriA narrative or visual work featuring a romance or...
3Japanese百合lily
4Japanese連用形an inflectional category: the continuative or...
5Japanese見るto see, to watch, to observe, to look at...
6Japanesea dream; a vision; leaving reality to the state...
7Old Japanesea dream
8Japanesean order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
9Middle Chinese
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)mut-