mote

From Middle English mot, from Old English mot (“grain of sand; mote; atom”), from Proto-West Germanic *mot (“grain of dirt or sand, speck”). Perhaps linked to English mud. Compare West Frisian mot (“peat dust”), Dutch mot (“dust from turf; sawdust; grit”), Low German mut (“peat dust, grit”), Norwegian mutt (“speck; mote; splinter; chip”), Italian mota (“mud”), Spanish mota (“speck”).

From Middle English moten, from Old English mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, may, must”), from Proto-Germanic mōtaną (“to be able to, have to, be delegated”), from Proto-Indo-European med- (“to acquire, possess, be in charge of”). Cognate with Dutch moeten (“to have to, must”), German müssen (“to have to, must”), Ancient Greek μέδω (médō, “to prevail, dominate, rule over”). Related to empty.

See moot (“a meeting”).

Clipping of remote, with allusion to the other sense of mote (“a speck of dust”).