moth

Etymology 1

From Middle English moth, moththe, motthe, moght, mohþe, mouȝte, from Old English moþþe, mohþe, mohþa (“moth”), from Proto-West Germanic *moþþō, *mottō, from Proto-Germanic *muþþô, *muttô (“moth, worm”), from Proto-Indo-European *mutn-, *mut- (“worm”). Cognate with West Frisian mot (“moth”), Dutch mot (“moth”), German Low German Motte, Mott (“moth”), German Motte (“moth”), Swedish mott (“moth”).

noun

1. A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
   Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7
2. (figurative) Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

verb

1. (intransitive) To hunt for moths.

Etymology 2

From Hindi मोठ (moṭh); see moth bean.

noun

1. The plant Vigna aconitifolia, moth bean.

Etymology 3

noun

1. Obsolete form of mote.
2. (dated) A liver spot, especially an irregular or feathery one.
   To remove moth patches, wash the spots with a solution of common bicarbonate of soda and water several times a day, until the patches are removed, which will usually be in forty-eight hours. 1895, Good Housekeeping, page 196, ISSN: 0731-3462
   Craves for sour things, chalks and eggs, fatty people with light brown spots on the face or liver spots, moth patches on forehead and cheek. 1999, R. L. Gupta, Directory of Diseases & Cures: In Homoeopathy, page 254
   There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose. 2005, J. D. Patil, Textbook of Applied Materia Medica, page 108