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mot

Etymology and origin of the French word mot

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion de Clermont
Inherited from
Latin muttum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (muttiō)

Pronunciation

Forms

mot m (plural mots)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French mot, inherited from Late Latin muttum (“sound, grunt”), a back-formation from muttiō (“to mutter, say mu”), built on an onomatopoeia “mu” for a sound made with the lips barely open.[2][3][4][5][1] Apuleius has the phrase “mutmut facere” “to make a barely audible sound”.[2][3] The Grand Robert gives a popular Latin form “*mottum”.[6] The same onomatopoeia is behind muet.[3][7]

In Late Latin “muttum” was used in negative sentences, “not a sound”, and so were the first French examples (“ne soner mot”, “ne tinter mot”); only afterwards did the word come to mean “speech, word”.[2][4] Cognate with Italian motto, Occitan mot and Catalan mot, Bloch and Wartburg think Italian “motto” and Spanish “mote” came from Gallo-Romance.[7][4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 10th century the Passion of Clermont has Jesus li bons mot no'l soned “the good Jesus said not a word”, the phrase ne soner mot “to say nothing”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From about 1100 it meant speech, what one says (Si lur ad dit un mot curteisement), and n'en savoir mot “to know nothing of it”.[2][3] In hunting it named a blast on the horn (about 1180), keeping a trace of the sound it once meant.[3][2] Mot à mot dates from about 1170, bon mot from 1205–50 and the plural des mots “idle talk” from the late 14th century.[2]

The sense “word, unit of language” is attested by the late 12th century but long remained secondary to verbe, which had religious weight; it became dominant in classical lexicography.[3] Mot du guet (1530) gave mot de passe (1828–29); prendre au mot (1549) recalls the sense “price offered” in Pathelin (1464); un mot for a short note dates from 1578.[2][3][9] Mots croisés (1929) follows English crossword.[2] English borrowed mot, “a witty saying”, in 1813.[10]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Ne soner mot in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Un mot, a speech, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1170 – Mot à mot in Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1180 – A blast on the hunting horn.[2]
  • 1464 – The price asked, in the Farce de Maître Pathelin.[2]
  • 1530 – Mot du guet, a password.[2]
  • 1578 – Un mot, a short letter.[9]
  • 1828–1829 – Mot de passe in Vidocq.[2]
  • 1929 – Mots croisés.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A word: a unit of language: un mot de trois syllabes.[7][11]
  2. A few words, something said or written: dire un mot à quelqu'un, ne pas dire un mot.[11][7]
  3. A short note, message: laisser un mot.[1][9]
  4. A saying, a witty remark: un bon mot, mot d'esprit.[2][1]
  5. The answer to a riddle: le mot de l'énigme.[1][2]
  6. Mot de passe: a password.[2][1]
  7. Mots croisés: a crossword.[2]

Word family

  • demi-mot
  • motus
  • motet
  • muet
  • English mot

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 u Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 303b
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mot.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/mot. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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