MOT . [ See Motto .]
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
3. A note or brief strain on a bugle.
May; must; might.
Motanabbi
Encyclopedia Britannica
MOTANABBI, or Μοτενεββι. Abù Ί-Tayyib Ahmed ibnal-Hosain of Cufa, called Al-Motanabbi (915/6- 965), is the most famous representative of the last period of Arabic poetry, though some Eastern critics place him below Abιi Tammâm. He was the son of a water-carrier, and is said to have picked up much of the literary knowledge for which he was afterwards famous by haunting the bookstalls of his native city. He spent, too, some years of his youth among the nomads of the Syro-Arabian desert, learning their purer dialect and becoming imbued with their self-reliant spirit. Thus he grew up a brave proud man, a gallant warrior as well as a poet, full of ambition, not easily satisfied either with wealth or honours, indifferent to the Koran and to the fasts and prayers of Islam, but untainted by the looseness of morals common to the poets of those days. Such a character was not well fitted for the part of a courtier, the only career that then lay open to a poet; for, though no Arab poet deems himself humiliated by the most extravagant praises of a generous patron, and none has written in this vein more extravagantly than Abιi Ί-Tayyib, he was as exacting of due acknowledgment as prodigal of adulation, and was too proud to endure a slight, even where it was dangerous to show resentment. At first he essayed a greater and more perilous road to distinction, appearing in the character of a prophet in the desert between the Euphrates and Syria, where he formed a considerable party, but was arrested by the governor of Emesa. A prison and the pillory cooled his enthusiasm; his prophetic pretensions indeed are hardly a proof of genuine religious fervour, for in the lands of Islam a revolutionary popular leader almost necessarily seeks a supernatural sanction for his attempt. ...The name of Al-Motanabbi (he who plays the prophet) clung to him, however, and is that by which he is still commonly known. Regaining his liberty, he had to struggle for a time with poverty and neglect. But his poetical talents at length found him patrons, and in 337 a.h. (948/9 a.d.) he became attached to the court of that famous warrior and patron of letters, Saif al-Dawla, prince of Aleppo, to whom many of the best fruits of his muse were dedicated, and by whose side he approved his valour in the field. But he had rivals who knew how to inspire jealousy between him and the prince, and an angry scene with the grammarian Khâla-waih, in which the latter closed a philological dispute by striking Motanabbi on the face with a key which he had in his sleeve, in the very presence of the prince and without rebuke from him, led the poet to leave the court and seek a new career in the realm of the Ikhshidites. He now took as his patron and the object of his eulogies Kâfùr, the regent of Egypt—a hideous black eunuch whom it was indeed a humiliation to praise, but who knew how to open the poet’s lips by great gifts and honours. Motanabbi, however, sought a higher reward, the government of Sidon, and at length broke with Kâfùr, wrote satires against him, and had to fly for his life to Cufa. A curious anecdote relating to this part of his career will be found in Lane’s Arabian Nights, chap. viii. note 18. His next great patron was 'Adud al-Dawla of Shirâz, and on a journey from Shirâz to Cufa he was waylaid and slain, fighting bravely, by a chieftain of the Asad named Fâtik, whose kinsfolk he had satirized (Sept. 965).
The poetry of Motanabbi is to European taste much less attractive than the verses of the ancient Arab poets, being essentially artificial and generally unreal, though it has great technical merits and displays lively fancy and considerable inventive power. It is mainly court poetry, but the poet has the credit of never losing his self-respect in the presence of his patrons. Oriental taste, on the other hand, places him on a very high pedestal, as may be judged from the fact that more than four hundred commentaries were written on his Diwan (H. Khal., iii. 306). Dieterici’s edition of the poet, Berlin, 1858-6Ï, gives the commentary of Wâhidi; the Egyptian edition of 1870 has the commentary of Okbari.
See Abulfeda, Ann. Mosl., ii. 482 sq. ; Ibn Khallikan 1 ed. De Slane, p. 51 sq., and the notes to De Slane’s translation; De Sacy, direst. Ar., vol. iii.; Bohlen, Commentatio de Motenebbio, Bonn, 1824; Dieterici, Mutanebbi und Seifuddaula, Leipsic, 1847.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 17, p. 1
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[796 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
The act of moving; motion.
1. A small particle; any thing proverbially small; a spot.
2. Why beholdest thou the mote in thy brother's eye? Matthew 7:3 .
3. The little motes in the sun do ever stir, though there is no wind.
4. MOTE , for mought, might or must, obsolete.
1. A meeting of persons for discussion; as, a wardmote in the city of London.
2. A body of persons who meet for discussion, esp. about the management of affairs; as, a folkmote.
3. A place of meeting for discussion.
5. A small particle, as of floating dust; anything proverbially small; a speck.
Filled with motes, or fine floating dust; as, the air.
A composition adapted to sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.
1. An animal of the genus Phalaena, which breeds in yard and garments, and often does injury by eating the substance and destroying the texture. Matthew 6:19 .
2. The name is also applied to the whole genus.
3. Figuratively, that which gradually and silently eats, consumes or wastes any thing. Idle persons are a moth to the community.
1. A mote.
2. Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not included among the butterflies; as, the luna moth; Io moth; hawk moth.
3. Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain, etc.; as, the clothes moth; grain moth; bee moth. See these terms under Clothes, Grain, etc.
4. Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvae of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvae of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.
5. Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
Moth
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
עיש, Job iv, 19; and עשש, Job xiii, 28; xxvii, 18; Psalm vi, 7; xxxi, 9, 10; xxxix, 11; Isaiah l, 9; Hosea v, 12. The clothes moth is the _tinea argentea_; of a white, shining silver, or pearl colour. It is clothed with shells, fourteen in number, and these are scaly. Albin asserts this to be the insect that eats woollen stuffs; and says that it is produced from a gray speckled moth, that flies by night, creeps among woollens, and there lays her eggs, which, after a little time, are hatched as worms, and in this state they feed on their habitation, till they change into a chrysalis, and thence emerge into moths. The young moth, or moth worm,” says the Abbé Pluche, upon leaving the egg which a _papilio_ had lodged upon a piece of stuff commodious for her purpose, finds a proper place of residence, grows and feeds upon the nap, and likewise builds with it an apartment, which is fixed to the groundwork of the stuff with several cords and a little glue. From an aperture in this habitation, the moth worm devours and demolishes all about him; and, when he has cleared the place, he draws out all the fastenings of his tent; after which he carries it to some little distance, and then fixes it with the slender cords in a new situation. In this manner he continues to live at our expense, till he is satisfied with his food, at which period he is first transformed into the _nympha_, and then changed into the _papilio_.” The allusions to this insect in the sacred writings are very striking: Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool.” They shall perish with as little noise as a garment under the tooth of a moth, Isaiah li, 7, 8. In the prophecies of Hosea, ...God himself says, I will be as a moth unto Ephraim, and as a lion;” that is, I will send silent and secret judgments upon him, which shall imperceptibly waste his beauty, corrode his power, and diminish his strength, and will finish his destruction with open and irresistible calamities. Or the meaning may be, As the moth crumbles into dust under the slightest pressure, or the gentlest touch, so man dissolves with equal ease, and vanishes into darkness, under the finger of the Almighty. Deeply sensible of this affecting truth, the royal Psalmist earnestly deprecates the judgments of God, humbly confessing his own weakness, and the inability of every man to endure his frown: Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. When thou with rebukes doth correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah,” Psalm xxxix, 10, 11. Such, in the estimation of Job, is the fading prosperity of a wicked man: He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh,” Job xxvii, 18. His unrighteous acquisitions shall be of short continuance; they shall moulder insensibly away, returning to the lawful owner, or pass into the possession of others. It is in this sense that the Lord threatens: I will be unto Ephraim as a moth,” Hosea v, 12. By the secret curse of God he shall fade away, and whatever is most precious in his estimation shall be gradually dissolved and consumed, as a garment eaten by the moth. The same allusion is involved in the direction of our Lord to his disciples: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal,” Matthew vi, 19, 20. The word _treasure_ commonly suggests to our minds the idea of some durable substance, as precious stones, gold, and silver, upon which the persevering industry of a moth can make no impression; but, in the language of inspiration, it denotes every thing collected together which men reckon valuable. The Jews had treasures of raiment as well as of corn, of wine, of oil, of honey, Jer. xli, 8; and of gold, silver, and brass, Ezek. xxxiii, 4; Dan. xi, 43. The robes of princes were a part of their treasure, upon which they often set a particular value. Rich vestments made a conspicuous figure in the treasury of Ulysses. These were, from their nature, exposed to the depredations of the moth; fabricated of perishing materials, they were liable to be prematurely consumed, or taken away by fraud or violence; but the favour of God, and the graces of his Spirit, and the enjoyment of eternal happiness, are neither liable to internal decay nor external violence, and by consequence, are the proper objects of our highest regard, chief solicitude, and constant pursuit. It is also likely, that by moth” our Lord meant all the kinds of small insects which devour or spoil the different kinds of property, such as corn, honey, fruits, &c, which were treasured up for the future. These, in warm countries, are very numerous and destructive.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
[890 words — estimated reading time: 6 minutes]
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1. Native; natural; received by birth; as mother-wit.
2. Native; vernacular; received from parents or ancestors; as mother-tongue.
1. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child; correlative to son or daughter.
2. That which has produced any thing.
3. Alas, poor country! it cannot
4. Be called our mother but our grave.
5. So our native land is called mother country, and a plant from which a slip or cion is taken, is called the mother plant. In this use, mother may be considered as an adjective.
6. That which has preceded in time; the oldest or chief of any thing; as a mother-church.
7. Hysterical passion. [Not used.]
8. A familiar term of address or appellation of an old woman or matron.
9. An appellation given to a woman who exercises care and tenderness towards another, or gives parental advice; as when one says, ' a woman has been a mother to me.'
10. A thick slimy substance concreted in liquors, particularly in vinegar, very different from scum or common lees.
12. A plant of the genus Thymus.
To concrete, as the thick matter of liquors.
To adopt as a son or daughter.
Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.
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.
3. An old woman or matron.
4. The female superior or head of a religious house, as an abbess, etc.
5. Hysterical passion; hysteria.
To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.
To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.
The mother of a husband or wife.
The mother of one's husband or wife.
Naked as when born.
Mother-of-pearl
Encyclopedia Britannica
MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The shells of many molluscous animals display a brilliant pearly and iridescent lustre, resulting from the peculiar manner in which the layers of calcareous matter of which they are composed have been successively formed. Such shells, even when small in size, form bright and, specially to the untutored eye, attractive ornaments, and as such are used for necklaces and similar purposes. When the shells are of sufficient size to cut and shape for purposes of utility, they become an article of some commercial importance under the name of Mother-of-Pearl. This term, though applicable to all pearly shells, is in commerce principally applied to the shells of the bivalve pearl-mussel Afeleagrina margaritifera, which is the principal source of the commercial product. The Meleagrina margaritifera is a native of tropical seas, and is found around the coasts of all the lands within the tropics. The shells vary in size, the largest reaching to about the dimensions of a dessert plate, with a weight of from 1 to 1∣ tt>. They also vary in colour to a considerable extent, some being dark and smoky round the outer edge with little iridescence, others dark but possessing a rich play of colours, and the greater part pearly white with varying iridescence. The principal sources of supply are the islands of the East Indian archipelago, the Pacific islands, the north-west Australian coast, the Persian and Red Seas, and the Gulf of Panama. The largest and steadiest consumption of mother-of-pearl is in the button trade, and much is also consumed by cutlers for handles of fruit and dessert knives and forks, pocket-knives, &c. It is also used in the inlaying of Japanese and Chinese lacquers, European lacquered papier-mâché work, trays, &c., and as an ornamental inlay ...generally. In an innumerable variety of small and fancy articles mother-of-pearl is also employed, its use being limited only by the moderate dimensions and thickness of material obtainable, and its rather brittle nature. The carving of pilgrim shells and the elaboration of crucifixes and ornamental work in mother-of-pearl is a distinctive industry of the monks and other inhabitants of Bethlehem. Among the South Sea Islands the shell is largely fashioned into fishing-hooks, a purpose for which its brilliant conspicuous appearance appears to render it suitable without the addition of any bait or other lure. Among shells other than those of Meleagrina margaritifera used as mother-of-pearl may be mentioned the Green Ear or Ormer shell (Haliotis tubercu-latd) and several other species of Haliotis, besides various species of Turbo.
The pearl-shell fishery is an important industry on the north and north-west coasts of Australia, producing about 800 tons yearly, valued at over £100,000, the Papuan islanders of Torres Straits being employed as divers under European supervision, with skilled appliances. The shell of the golden-tipped variety of Avicula found here is much more valuable than the dark-edged one of the South Seas. The value of the fisheries depends much more on the shell than on the occasional pearls found, which indeed are sometimes, along with the “fish,” a perquisite of the diver; but on the west coast, about Shark’s Bay, a smaller variety of the same mollusc produces valuable pearls, their exciting cause being possibly present there in greater abundance. That the pearl itself is not due to disease, or to the presence of any irritating cause, seems clear from the fact that the mollusc can reject it at will, and often does so when taken (for which reason the diver, in seizing him, at once places his hand over the opening so as to close the shell); but it is believed now that the pearl is secreted and held ready to be dissolved by the powerful acid of the sac, and spread in nacreous layers over the spot irritated by the borer (Pholax sp. ). Accordingly pearls are seldom found in the young “fish,” whose shells are much harder outside, and not susceptible to such attacks. A mass of nacreous layers formed round a point of irritation or “blister” can sometimes be cut out of the shell, and might easily be mistaken for (and sold as) a pearl, but it is never quite perfect all round and is always hollow. Sometimes, after having secured the loose pearls, the fishermen deposit the mollusc again, unharmed, in a secure and accessible locality, and repeat the process for three and four years successively.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 17, p. 1
[752 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
[752 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
A fluid remaining after the evaporation of salt water, and containing deliquescent salts and impurities.
Native wit; common sense.
A plant of the genus Leonurus.
Maxim Roget’s Thesaurus §496
N. maxim, aphorism, apothegm, apophthegm, # dictum, saying, adage, saw, proverb, sentence, mot, motto, word, byword, moral, phylactery, protasis, axiom, theorem, scholium, truism, postulate, first principles, a priori fact, assumption (supposition) 514, reflection, conclusion, golden rule, principle, principia, profession of faith, settled principle, accepted principle, formula, accepted fact, received truth, wise maxim, sage maxim, received maxim, admitted maxim, recognized maxim &c, true saying, common saying, hackneyed saying, trite saying, commonplace saying &c
Adv. as the saying goes, as the saying is, as they say
Wit Roget’s Thesaurus §842
N. wit, humor, wittiness, sense of humor, attic wit, attic salt, atticism, salt, esprit, point, fancy, whim, drollery, pleasantry, farce, buffoonery, fooling, tomfoolery, shenanigan, harlequinade, broad farce, broad humor, fun, espieglerie, vis comica, jocularity, jocosity, jocoseness, facetiousness, waggery, waggishness, whimsicality, comicality, banter, badinage, retort, repartee, smartness, ready wit, quid-pro- quo, ridicule, jest, joke, jape, jibe, facetiae, levity, quips and cranks, capital joke, canorae nugae, standing jest, standing joke, private joke, conceit, quip, quirk, crank, quiddity, concetto, plaisanterie, brilliant idea, merry thought, bright thought, happy thought, sally, flash of wit, flash of merriment, scintillation, mot, mot pour rire, witticism, smart saying, bon-mot, jeu d'esprit, epigram, jest book, dry joke, quodlibet, cream of the jest, word-play, jeu de mots, play of words, play upon words, pun, punning, double entente, double entendre, quibble, verbal quibble, conundrum, anagram, acrostic, double acrostic, trifling, idle conceit, turlupinade|, old joke, tired joke, flat joke, joe miller|
V. joke, jest, crack a joke, make a joke, jape, cut jokes, perpetrate a joke, pun, perpetrate a pun, make fun of, make merry with, kid, kid around, fool around, set the table in a roar, retort, banter, ridentem dicere verum, joke at one's expense, take in jest, bomb, fall flat, go over like a lead balloon
Adj. witty, attic, quick-witted, nimble-witted, smart, jocular, jocose, humorous, facetious, waggish, whimsical, kidding, joking, puckish, playful, merry and wise, pleasant, sprightly, light, spirituel, sparkling, epigrammatic, full of point, ben trovato, comic, zany, madcap, funny, amusing
Adv. jokingly, in joke, in jest, in sport, in play
Phr. adhibenda est in jocando moderatio, "gentle dullness ever loves a joke", "leave this keen encounter of our wits", just joking, just kidding, "surely you jest!"
King James Bible KJV Bible
Berean Standard Bible BSB Bible
374 KJV and 334 BSB verses contain “Mot” — showing the first 20. Show all 407 verses (searchable)
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.