Where does “mote” come from?

mote (Spanish) comes from French mot, from Middle French mot, from Old French mot, from Medieval Latin mota, from Frankish *mot, from Proto-Germanic *motta, from Proto-Germanic mutô, from Proto-Indo-European (s)mut- — dark, dirty.

mote (Spanish): nickname; motto; hulled cereal, especially pearl...

Definitions

  1. nickname; motto; hulled cereal, especially pearl...

Ancestry of “mote”, step by step

mote traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via French mot

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmotword; note, message
2Middle Frenchmotword
3Old Frenchmotword; Alternative form of molt
4Medieval Latinmotaa mound, hill; nominative feminine singular of...
5Frankish*mot
6Proto-Germanic*motta
7Proto-Germanicmutô
8Proto-Indo-European(s)mut-dark, dirty

via Quechua mut'i

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Quechuamut'imote, hominy

via Occitan mot

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Occitanmotword

Words derived from “mote

Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)mut-