Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

moth

/mɔθ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.50 in modern English

Syllables
moth
IPA
/mɔθ/
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.

noun

Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

verb

To hunt for moths.

Intransitive verb

noun

A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A girlfriend.

Slang

noun

Obsolete form of mote.

Obsolete

noun

A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.

Dated

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *mat- Proto-Indo-European *-ḗn Proto-Indo-European *matḗn Proto-Germanic *maþôder. Proto-West Germanic *moþþā Old English moþþe Middle English mothe English moth From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa, from Proto-West Germanic *moþþā, from Proto-Germanic *maþô ~ *muttaz (“insect, worm, maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Motte (“moth”), West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”) and Norwegian Nynorsk mott (“moth”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: moth,moththe,motthe,moght,mohþe,mouȝte, moþþe,mohþe,mohþa, *moþþā, *maþô, *mutn-,*mut-, मोठ

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /mɔθ/
  • British English: /mɒθ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

moths (plural) moths (present, singular) mothing (participle, present) mothed (participle, past) mothed (past)

Derived Forms

bagmoth budmoth fishmoth macromoth micromoth mothball mothed mothicide mothless mothlike Mothman mothweed

Phrases

like a moth to a flame like a moth to flame like a moth to the flame moth-ball moth ball moth blight moth borer moth butterfly

Frequently Paired Words

butterfly caterpillar worm

Synonyms

Turkish gram mat bean matki

Homonyms

moat mote

Rhymes With

cloth roth broth doth auth froth schroth krauth lauth fauth kauth rauth

Questions

How do you pronounce moth?
The recorded pronunciation is /mɔθ/.
What does moth mean?
Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
Where does moth come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce moth

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “moth”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mɔθ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “moth”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “moth” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.