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motto

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈmɒ.təʊ/[1]
  • US: /ˈmɑ.toʊ/[1]

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.
  • 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