Mote, n. The flourish sounded on a horn by a huntsman. See Mot, n., 3,
and Mort. Chaucer.
Mote, n. [OE. mot, AS. mot.] A small particle, as of floating dust;
anything proverbially small; a speck.
The little motes in the sun do ever stir, though there be no wind.
Bacon.
We are motes in the midst of generations.
Landor.
Mot"ed (?), a. Filled with motes, or fine floating dust; as, the air.
"Moted sunbeams." Tennyson.
Mo*tet" (?), n. [F., a dim. of mot word; cf. It. mottetto, dim. of
motto word, device. See Mot, Motto.] (Mus.) A composition adapted to
sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.
Moth (mth), n. A mote. [Obs.] Shak.
Moth, n.; pl. Moths (mthz). [OE. mothe, AS. moððe; akin to D. mot, G.
motte, Icel. motti, and prob. to E. mad an earthworm. Cf. Mad, n.,
Mawk.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not
included among the butterflies; as, the luna moth; Io moth; hawk moth.
2. (Zoöl.) Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain,
etc.; as, the clothes moth; grain moth; bee moth. See these terms under
Clothes, Grain, etc.
3. (Zoöl.) Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur
goods, etc., esp. the larvæ of several species of beetles of the genera
Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvæ of Anthrenus.
See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.
4. Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any
other thing.
Moth blight (Zoöl.), any plant louse of the genus Aleurodes, and
related genera. They are injurious to various plants. -- Moth gnat
(Zoöl.), a dipterous insect of the genus Bychoda, having fringed wings.
-- Moth hunter (Zoöl.), the goatsucker. -- Moth miller (Zoöl.), a
clothes moth. See Miller, 3, (a). -- Moth mullein (Bot.), a common herb
of the genus Verbascum (V. Blattaria), having large wheel-shaped yellow
or whitish flowers.
Moth"-eat` (?), v. t. To eat or prey upon, as a moth eats a garment.
[Rarely used except in the form moth-eaten, p. p. or a.]
Ruin and neglect have so moth-eaten her.
Sir T. Herbert.
Moth"en (?), a. Full of moths. [Obs.] Fulke.
Moth"er (?), n. [OE. moder, AS. mdor; akin to D. moeder, OS. mdar, G.
mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. mðir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ.
mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr. mt; cf. Skr. m to
measure. √268. Cf. Material, Matrix, Metropolis, Father.] 1. A
female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne
a child.
2. That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or
origin; generatrix.
Alas! poor country! . . . it can not Be called our mother, but our
grave.
Shak.
I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother of a religion,
it is said, that lived two thousand years.
Landor.