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Dictionary:

motto

  (mŏt'ō) pronunciation
n., pl. -toes or -tos.
  1. A brief statement used to express a principle, goal, or ideal. See synonyms at saying.
  2. A sentence, phrase, or word of appropriate character inscribed on or attached to an object.
  3. A maxim adopted as a guide to one's conduct.

[Italian, word, motto, probably from Vulgar Latin *mōttum, word. See mot.]


 
 
Thesaurus: motto

noun

  1. A usually pithy and familiar statement expressing an observation or principle generally accepted as wise or true: adage, aphorism, byword, maxim, proverb, saw, saying. See words.
  2. A rallying term used by proponents of a cause: battle cry, call to arms, call to battle, cry, rallying cry, war cry. See words.

 

A motif which recurs at various points in a work. ‘Motto aria’ is sometimes used for a Baroque aria which opens with a motto phrase, followed by an instrumental passage, before the voice resumes. See also Head-motif, Idée fixe and Leitmotif.



 
Wikipedia: motto

A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. Many countries, cities, universities, and other institutions have mottos, as do families with coats of arms.

A motto may be in any language. Latin and to a lesser degree French are disproportionately frequent, because each was the principal international language for a considerable period. The local language is usual in the mottos of governments.

Fraternities and sororities typically have their (usually secret) mottos in the Greek language. That of the County of Somerset is in Anglo-Saxon.

A canting motto is one that contains word play. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is Festina lente, punningly interpreting on-slow (literally "make haste slowly").

In heraldry, a motto is often depicted in an achievement of arms, typically on a scroll below the shield, or else above the crest as in Scots heraldry.

Ships and submarines in the Royal Navy each have a crest and motto, as do units of the Royal Air Force.

In English heraldry mottoes are not granted with armorial bearings and are not hereditable, conversely in Scottish heraldry they are.

See also


 
Translations: Translations for: Motto

Dansk (Danish)
n. - motto, devise, valgsprog

Nederlands (Dutch)
devies, lijfspreuk, motto, ulevellenrijmpje

Français (French)
n. - devise, (GB) blague, devinette

Deutsch (German)
n. - Motto, Spruch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μότο, απόφθεγμα, γνωμικό, αρχή, έμβλημα

Italiano (Italian)
motto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mote (m)

Русский (Russian)
девиз, эпиграф

Español (Spanish)
n. - divisa, lema

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - motto, överskrift

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
座右铭, 训言, 格言, 警句

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 座右銘, 訓言, 格言, 警句

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 표어, 금언, 제사

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 標語, モットー, 金言, 格言, 題銘, 題辞, 引用句

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شعار‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פתגם, מימרה, אימרה המאומצת ככלל התנהגות, משפט שנכתב על חפץ כדי להביע רגש מסוים, ציטטה בראשית ספר או פרק בו, מוטו‬


 
Shopping: motto
Air Max Motto
 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Motto" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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