Etymology

moth

M3O1T1H4

Today it means: Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae. Full definition →

Middle English mothe ← Old English moþþe ← Proto-West Germanic *moþþā
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moth · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mat-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*matḗn
  3. Proto-Germanic*maþô
  4. Proto-West Germanic*moþþā
  5. Old Englishmoþþe
  6. Middle Englishmothe
  7. English todaymoth

From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa, from Proto-West Germanic *moþþā, from Proto-Germanic *maþô ~ *muttaz (“insect, worm, maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”) and Norwegian Nynorsk mott (“moth”).

moth · noun2

  1. Hindi · derived fromमोठ
  2. English todaymoth

From Hindi मोठ (moṭh); see moth bean.

moth · noun3

  1. Irish · derived frommaith“goodness”
  2. English todaymoth

Alternative form of mot (“woman; wife”), likely under influence from Irish maith (“goodness”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*maþô all →

mademaddockmawk

Hindiमोठ all →

dalmothmoth bean

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.