Motto Meaning
/ˈmɑ.toʊ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA personal slogan.
nounA sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
Sentence Examples
His motto is "Plain living and high thinking."
You mustn't carelessly believe the maker's motto.
One for all, and all for one, this is our motto.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The school's ____ is 'work hard and be kind' which guides the students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The family's ancient ____, 'Honesty is the best policy,' has been passed down through several generations as a very core guiding principle.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Italian motto (“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c. Doublet of mot.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"‘Gentlemen, I can tell you what the new queen will take as her motto. It is Bound to Obey and Serve.’"
— 2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 10:
"It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... Serve God, and be cheerful."
— 1715 June 4 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 45. Tuesday, May 25. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
"“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”"
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"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, Nineteenth Century Prose, volume 30, page 304:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The school's ____ is 'work hard and be kind' which guides the students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The family's ancient ____, 'Honesty is the best policy,' has been passed down through several generations as a very core guiding principle.