motto

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A personal slogan.

   You have to be in it to win it — that's my motto.

2. 2
   noun

   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.’

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   verb

   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.

5. 5
   noun

   a favorite saying of a sect or political group

6. 6
   noun

   A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c. Doublet of mot.