muttum

Latin

Etymology

Backformation from muttīre (“to mutter, murmur, talk quietly”). Of onomatopoeic origin; "make a mu-noise," possibly dating back to Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“lips, muzzle”); compare mūtus or mussō. See also Proto-Germanic *mūlō, English mutter.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmut.tum/, [ˈmʊt̪ːʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmut.tum/, [ˈmut̪ːum]

Noun

muttum n (genitive muttī); second declension

1. A mutter, a grunt

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	muttum	mutta
genitive	muttī	muttōrum
dative	muttō	muttīs
accusative	muttum	mutta
ablative	muttō	muttīs
vocative	muttum	mutta

Descendants

• Catalan: mot
• French: mot
  • → English: mot
  • → Spanish: mote
  • → Portuguese: mote
• Italian: motto
  • → Dutch: motto
  • → English: motto
  • → German: Motto
  • → Norwegian: motto
  • → Polish: motto
  • → Swedish: motto
• Piedmontese: mòt

References

• “muttum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• muttum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• muttum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.