Moot derives from gemōt, an Old English name for a judicial court. Originally, moot referred to either the court itself or an argument that might be debated by one. By the 16th century, the legal role of judicial moots had diminished, and the only remnant of them were moot courts, academic mock courts in which law students could try hypothetical cases for practice. Back then, moot was used as a synonym of debatable, but because the cases students tried in moot courts were simply academic exercises, the word gained the additional sense "deprived of practical significance." Some commentators still frown on using moot to mean "purely academic," but most editors now accept both senses as standard.
AdjectiveAmong the many advantages of legislation requiring a label was that it allowed the industry to insist—in court if necessary—that claims against the companies for negligence and deception were now moot. Every smoker would be repeatedly warned that "smoking may be hazardous to your health." Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette Century, 2007And the question of delight shouldn't be moot. Edward Hoagland, Harper's, June 2007… a genuine Atlantic political culture might be the result—rendering the fears expressed in this article largely moot. John O'Sullivan, National Review, 6 Dec. 1999 The court ruled that the issue is now moot because the people involved in the dispute have died. I think they were wrong, but the point is moot. Their decision has been made and it can't be changed now. VerbAnd it was they, not the British, who slapped down any suggestion of democratic reform when it was quietly mooted by British colonial officers in the 1950s. Ian Buruma, New Republic, 24 Sept. 2001… he looked for an easy way out. A spot in the stateside Guard would have suited him fine; in the event, he dodged and weaved until a low draft number came along to moot his problem. Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker, 16 & 23 Oct. 2000And then the word comes of Ted's inoperable pancreatic cancer, and death moots the long conflict. Richard Rhodes, New York Times Book Review, 24 Dec. 2000 conservatives had shouted down the proposal when it was first mooted the issue of whether a person's nature or upbringing is more important continues to be mooted by experts and laymen alike See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Griffin denied that as moot after granting the motion to dismiss the case. Mike Cason | Mcason@al.com, al, 12 Sep. 2022 The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed as moot because Cawthorn isn’t on the November ballot. Morgan Lee, USA TODAY, 7 Sep. 2022 The majority agreed the appeal of a respondent in 2018 Sauk County case, identified in court documents only as S.A.M., should not have been dismissed as moot. Bruce Vielmetti, Journal Sentinel, 28 June 2022 The Justice Department filing today suggests the department views that request as effectively moot because it's already finished its review. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2022 The site, landscaping and architectural plans were also on the council's agenda for Aug. 16, but the rezoning vote result rendered the item moot. Bob Dohr, Journal Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2022 This is mostly moot as of this writing, since PCIe 5.0 SSDs and GPUs don't exist, but that won't be the case in a couple of years. Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 17 Aug. 2022 But a series of evolutions have rendered this part of the calendar increasingly moot. Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 12 Aug. 2022 After the Orioles were unable to agree to terms with Mancini on a deal for 2022, the sides exchanged salary figures, with Mancini’s new contract eventually rendering those moot. Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 1 Aug. 2022
Verb
The report increases pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration, which plans to decide soon whether to proceed with HS2, which was first mooted in 2009 and has proven deeply unpopular with communities along its route. Alex Morales, Bloomberg.com, 29 Apr. 2020 The deal, first mooted in August, gives Tencent a stake in a firm whose catalogue spans artists from ABBA and Bob Marley to Jay-Z and Taylor Swift.The Economist, 2 Jan. 2020 Legends take shape; a miracle is reported; a mystery is mooted; competing cults are born. William Deresiewicz, The Atlantic, 17 May 2020 Worrying about the specific identities of those affected by COVID-19 may soon be moot, says Stephen Latham, director of Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics in Connecticut. Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2020 The panel recommended a 600,000 to 1 million-barrel-a-day reduction in the second quarter, more ambitious than curbs mooted in February but still short of some estimates of the demand loss. Grant Smith, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Mar. 2020 What’s more, the possibility of this tie-up has been so long mooted that some bid premium should have been baked into the target’s share price for a while. Chris Hughes | Bloomberg, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2019 That such a plan could even be mooted reflects the fact that, again, Trump does not understand the cure. Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2020 Firms welcomed the removal of a cap on migrant numbers, the opening up of routes for skilled workers and the lowering of the £30,000 salary threshold initially mooted.The Economist, 19 Feb. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun, Adjective, and Verb
Middle English, from Old English mōt, gemōt; akin to Middle High German muoze meeting