Word.ws English Dictionary

mottoes

mottoes is the plural of motto.

Meaning of motto

Noun

motto (plural mottos or mottoes)

  1. A personal slogan.
    • You have to be in it to win it — that's my motto.
  2. A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
    • ‘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
    Synonyms:
    device
  3. A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
    • 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...
  4. (obsolete) A paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.

See all 5 meanings of motto

Forms of mottoes

alternative formmottos

Questions about mottoes

What is mottoes the plural of?
Mottoes is the plural of motto.

Words near mottoes in the dictionary

  1. Mottleys
  2. mottling
  3. mottlings
  4. motto
  5. mottoed
  6. mottoes
  7. mottoing
  8. Mottola
  9. Mottolas
  10. mottoless
  11. mottolike

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mottoes (page history and authors); motto (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “mottoes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mottoes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.