A Moot Point Is Arguable, or Pointless
Moot means open to debate, or irrelevant. The two senses are opposites, and both are current.
Moot means open to argument, and in North American use, of no practical relevance. The senses contradict each other and both are standard. A *moot* was an Anglo-Saxon assembly for settling disputes, and law students later argued hypothetical cases in a moot court. Because those cases were imaginary, American usage slid from arguable to academic to pointless, so *a moot point* now means opposite things on either side of the Atlantic. The Old English *gemot* survives in place names ending in *-moot* and in *witenagemot*, the council of wise men.
- Debatable. *A moot point.*
- Irrelevant (North America). *The question is moot.*
- An assembly. *A moot.*
- Moot court. *A moot court.*
- Old English — *gemot*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | moot | Moot. |
| Noun | moot | A moot. |
| Verb | moot | To moot an idea. |
| Compound | moot court | A moot court. |
| Old English | gemot | A meeting. |
- That is a moot point.Debatable.
- The question is now moot.Irrelevant.
- They mooted the plan.Verb.
Words that mean their own opposite
- Moot — debatable or not worth debating
- Sanction — to approve or to penalise
- Cleave — to split or to cling
- Dust — to remove dust or to apply it
- These are called contronyms or Janus words
Old English *gemot*, a meeting or assembly, related to *meet*.
Does moot mean debatable or irrelevant?
Both. British usage keeps the older sense of arguable; North American usage more often means of no practical relevance.
What was a moot court?
A training exercise in which law students argued hypothetical cases. Because the cases were imaginary, moot drifted toward meaning academic.