Moat noun
Etymology
OF.
mote hill, dike, bank, F.
motte clod, turf: cf. Sp. & Pg.
mota bank or mound of earth, It.
motta clod, LL.
mota,
motta, a hill on which a fort is built, an eminence, a dike, Prov. G.
mott bog earth heaped up; or perh. F.
motte, and OF.
mote, are from a LL. p.p. of L.
movere to move (see
Move). The name of
moat, properly meaning, bank or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F.
dike and
ditch.
Definitions
- (Fort.) A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch.
