mot

/məʊ/

//məʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mot" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mot” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25,484) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25,484
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A witty remark; a witticism; a bon mot.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mot · mot · English

mot · rank #25,484 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,484
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mooney

Nearest frequency peer: Mooney (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “mot”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “mot” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mot vs my
33% similar
mot vs Mr
0% similar
mot vs MS
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mot
PropertyValue
Headwordmot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məʊ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#25,484
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “mot”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).motlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Mooney” (#25,482), “mow” (#25,486), “mower” (#25,487). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mot” is #25,484. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mot is neighbouring look-alikes ("my", "Mr", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /məʊ/. Frequency #25,484 among 4,057 “M” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

mot doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "my", "Mr", "MS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French mot. Doublet of motto. The correct English form is mot, spelled M-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A witty remark; a witticism; a bon mot.
  2. 2
    A word or a motto; a device.
  3. 3
    A note or brief strain on a bugle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Here and there turns up a […] savage mot.
  2. ‘He comes from Montreal, in Canada.’ ‘Why?’ she said, repeating Dr Johnson's mot with a forced sneer.

Etymology

From French mot. Doublet of motto.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mot"?
"mot" is spelled M-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /məʊ/.
What does "mot" mean?
As a noun, "mot" means: A witty remark; a witticism; a bon mot.
What words are commonly confused with "mot"?
"mot" is commonly confused with "my", "Mr", "MS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mot" is /məʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mot"?
From French mot. Doublet of motto. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mow#25,486MLM#25,478nia#25,497pao#25,514

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list