motto

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”),^[2][3][4][1] recorded in Italian from the late 13th century for a short pithy phrase and later a witty saying,^[2] from Late Latin muttum (“a grunt, an uttered sound, a word”),^[4][3][2][5] from Latin muttiō (“to mutter, mumble”),^[4][3][6] which is imitative.^[2] The American Heritage Dictionary gives the Latin source as *mōttum (“word”).^[7] The same Latin word gave French mot, so motto is a doublet of mot and bon mot;^[4][1][2] Etymonline and Klein relate it to mutter, and Klein also to motet.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A word or phrase attached to an emblem to explain its meaning: 1589, in Robert Greene's Spanish Masquerado.^[2][4][3] Merriam-Webster dates the first use to the 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In heraldry from 1600 the motto was the word or sentence placed on a scroll below the arms or above the crest.^[2][8] Florio's Italian dictionary glossed the word as "a word, a mot, a phrase, a saying, a posie or briefe in any shield, ring", and Shakespeare used it in Pericles.^[9] It also meant a pithy saying in general for a time (1615–60).^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a sentence added to a device, or prefixed to any thing written",^[10] and the motto at the head of a book or essay is recorded from 1711, in Addison's Spectator.^[2] The sense "a maxim adopted as a rule of conduct" is from 1796,^[3] and the verse in a Christmas cracker from 1824.^[2] In the United States a motto or motto kiss was a sweet wrapped with a scrap of verse (from 1835).^[2][3] In music since 1891 it has been a recurring phrase with a symbolic meaning.^[2]

Timeline

• 1589 – a phrase attached to an emblem.^[2][4]
• 1600 – in heraldry, the word or sentence on a coat of arms.^[2]
• 1615 – a pithy saying (obsolete by 1660).^[2]
• 1680 – verb, to inscribe with a motto.^[2]
• 1711 – an epigraph at the beginning of a book or essay.^[2]
• 1796 – a maxim adopted as a rule of conduct.^[3]
• 1824 – a verse in a paper cracker.^[2]
• 1835 – in the US, a sweet wrapped with a verse.^[2]
• 1891 – in music, a recurring symbolic phrase.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A short phrase that sums up the aims or ideals of a person, family or organization: The club's motto is printed on every badge.
2. (heraldry) Such a phrase on a scroll forming part of a coat of arms.
3. A short phrase inscribed on an object to suit its character or use.
4. A quotation at the beginning of a book or chapter; an epigraph.
5. A joke or verse inside a paper cracker.
6. (music) A recurring phrase with a symbolic meaning.

Related words

• mot
• bon mot
• mutter
• motet
• mute

Usage notes

The plural is mottoes or mottos.^[11][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins