Word of the Day: May 19, 2009 - moot

moot (moot) - adjective

Moot means "open to discussion or debate; debatable; doubtful: a moot point."

First used in the written form around 1805-1815.  Etymologically, a "moot point" is one talked about at a 'meeting.'  For 'meeting' is the original sense of the noun moot - particularly as applied in early medieval England to a meeting functioning as a court of law. The word goes back to a prehistoric Germanic "motam meeting," source also of the English word meet. Its modern adjectival usage seems to have emerged in the 16th century. The derived verb moot goes back to Old English times (motian meant to "converse, plead in court"), but again, its present-day use (to suggest or propose), is a more recent development, dating from the 17th century.

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