Sekirov Dictionary

motto

UK /ˈmɒ.təʊ/US /ˈmɑ.toʊ/

noun 4
verb 1
forms 4

noun4

•
A personal slogan.
- You have to be in it to win it — that's my motto.
•
A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
- ‘Gentlemen, I can tell you what the new queen will take as her motto. It is Bound to Obey and Serve.’ — 2020
•
A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
- It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... Serve God, and be cheerful. — 1715
(no longer used) A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.

verb1

•
To compose mottos.
- The singularity of his epigraphic strategy notwithstanding, Emerson does not draw attention to his own mottoing. One exchange suggests that his practice was a convention imposed from without. — 2003

forms

mottoed · mottoing · mottos · mottoes

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