mot
Americanabbreviation
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(in New Zealand and formerly in Britain) Ministry of Transport (in Britain now part of the DTLR) See DTLR
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(in Britain) MOT test: a compulsory annual test for all road vehicles over a certain age, which require a valid MOT certificate
noun
noun
Usage
What does mot mean? A mot is a clever comment or witty saying.Mot is a short way of saying bon mot, which means the same thing (and is more commonly used).Mot is also used in the phrase mot juste, meaning the exact right word.Witty statements, sayings like "history always repeats itself," wordplay, and famous last words are all examples of mots.Example: Shakespeare's plays are known for their memorable mots like "To thine own self be true."
Etymology
Origin of mot
1625–35; < French < Late Latin muttum utterance. See motto
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous,” Voltaire, the 18th-century French enlightenment philosopher, himself known for his bons mots, once wrote, adding: “God granted my prayer.”
Wordplay, aphorisms and bon mots were Stoppard’s signature.
From Los Angeles Times
He jotted down this bon mot with his pencil nub.
From Literature
Chop up two-thirds of the dialogue into bon mots and it’d make a great book of inspirational quotes, the sort of thing a thoughtful auntie would slip into a kid’s stocking at Christmas.
From Los Angeles Times
Yet it’s also, via Hart’s acerbic bon mots, an incisive exploration of two opposing views of art.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
