Motto German · revision 35632

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1717|origins=la muttiō}}

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''Motto''' ''n'' (genitive Mottos, plural Mottos or Motti)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|motto|t=motto; witty saying, (formerly) word]], borrowed in the 18th century.^(Kluge 2011|637)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB) The Italian word goes back, like [[fr|mot|t=word]], to [[la-lat|muttum|t=a mutter, grunt]], a back-formation from [[la|muttiō|t=to mutter, murmur]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Pfeifer leaves open whether Italian took it from [[fro|mot]] or directly from the Latin noun, with only its meaning influenced by the French word.^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge calls its origin unclear and thinks it probably imitative, like the Latin verb.^(Kluge 2011|637)^(Duden 7 2020) The same word is [[nl|motto]], [[en|motto]], [[sv|motto]] and [[is|mottó]].^(Kluge 2011|637)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Motto'' is first listed in Nehring's dictionary of 1717, as a maxim or device.^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002) Literary use follows from 1761, when Hamann writes of a motto from Persius, and in 1764 Herder speaks of dithyrambs ''mit dem Motto''.^(DFWB)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was used for a short saying placed at the head of a book, chapter or poem, and for a guiding principle;^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002) Lichtenberg (1774) praises ''ein schönes Motto'', and Schiller mocks a journalist in the ''Xenien'': ''Setze nur immer Mottos auf deine Journale, sie zeigen / Alle die Tugenden an, die man an dir nicht bemerkt'' (“Go on putting mottos on your journals: they announce all the virtues one does not notice in you”).^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002) Beside the Italian plural ''Motti'', the German plural ''Mottos'' is used.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary) Hungarian borrowed the word as ''mottó'' (1791).^(LWP)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1717 – ''Motto'' is listed by Nehring.^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1761 – Hamann uses the word.^(DFWB)

+ * 1764 – Herder writes of dithyrambs with a motto.^(DFWB)

+ * 1782 – Schlözer explains the motto on a title page.^(DFWB)

+ * 1791 – Hungarian ''mottó'' is recorded.^(LWP)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|motto]], [[m|en|maxim]] or [[m|en|slogan]] that someone lives or acts by, or under which an event is held: ''Das Fest stand unter dem Motto „Bunte Nacht“.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|epigraph]]: a sentence placed at the head of a book or chapter to sum up its content or purpose.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Bonmot]]

+ * [[Motette]]

+ * [[it|motto]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}