motto
UK /ˈmɒ.təʊ/ · US /ˈmɑ.toʊ/ noun, verb
Forms mottos mottoes mottoing mottoed
- noun A personal slogan. “You have to be in it to win it — that's my motto.”
- noun (heraldry) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
- noun A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
- noun (obsolete) A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.
- verb (intransitive) To compose mottos.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c. Doublet of mot.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievment.
- noun A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
Etymology [It. motto a word, a saying, L. muttum a mutter, a grunt, cf. muttire, mutire, to mutter, mumble; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. Mot a word.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “motto”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details