Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

motto

 
Dictionary: mot·to   (mŏt'ō) pronunciation

n., pl., -toes, or -tos.
  1. A brief statement used to express a principle, goal, or ideal. See synonyms at saying.
  2. A sentence, phrase, or word of appropriate character inscribed on or attached to an object.
  3. A maxim adopted as a guide to one's conduct.

[Italian, word, motto, probably from Vulgar Latin *mōttum, word. See mot.]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Thesaurus: motto
Top

noun

  1. A usually pithy and familiar statement expressing an observation or principle generally accepted as wise or true: adage, aphorism, byword, maxim, proverb, saw, saying. See words.
  2. A rallying term used by proponents of a cause: battle cry, call to arms, call to battle, cry, rallying cry, war cry. See words.

A motif which recurs at various points in a work. ‘Motto aria’ is sometimes used for a Baroque aria which opens with a motto phrase, followed by an instrumental passage, before the voice resumes. See also Head-motif, Idée fixe and Leitmotif.



Wikipedia: Motto
Top

A motto (Italian for pledge, sentence; plural: motti) is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottos of governments.

Contents

Heraldry

In heraldry, a motto is often depicted on a scroll in an achievement of arms, typically below the shield or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry.

In English and Scottish heraldry mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings, and may be adopted and changed at will.[1] Although very unusual and perhaps outside regular heraldic practice, there are some examples of the particular appearance of the motto scroll and letters thereon being blazoned.[2]

A canting motto is one that contains word play. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is Festina lente, punningly interpreting on-slow (literally "make haste slowly").

The motto of the County of Somerset is in Anglo-Saxon; that of South Cambridgeshire in the English Fens is in Dutch.

Ships and submarines in the Royal Navy each have a badge and motto, as do units of the Royal Air Force.

Literature

In literature, a motto is a sentence, phrase, poem, or word prefixed to an essay, chapter, novel, or the like suggestive of its subject matter. It is a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle for the written material that follows.

For example, Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes uses mottos at the start of each section.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Innes-Smith, Robert (1990). An Outline of Heraldry in England and Scotland. Pilgrim Press. pp. 14. ISBN 0-900594-82-9. "Mottoes are not necessarily hereditary and can be adopted and changed at will." 
  2. ^ "USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL". http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Navy/USSWinstonChurchill.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-23. 

Translations: Motto
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - motto, devise, valgsprog

Nederlands (Dutch)
devies, lijfspreuk, motto, ulevellenrijmpje

Français (French)
n. - devise, (GB) blague, devinette

Deutsch (German)
n. - Motto, Spruch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μότο, απόφθεγμα, γνωμικό, αρχή, έμβλημα

Italiano (Italian)
motto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mote (m)

Русский (Russian)
девиз, эпиграф

Español (Spanish)
n. - divisa, lema

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - motto, överskrift

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
座右铭, 训言, 格言, 警句

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 座右銘, 訓言, 格言, 警句

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 표어, 금언, 제사

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 標語, モットー, 金言, 格言, 題銘, 題辞, 引用句

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شعار‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פתגם, מימרה, אימרה המאומצת ככלל התנהגות, משפט שנכתב על חפץ כדי להביע רגש מסוים, ציטטה בראשית ספר או פרק בו, מוטו‬


Shopping: motto
Top
 
 
Learn More
Out Up
Hamming (Quotes By)
'Ich hab's gewagt'

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Motto" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

Mentioned in