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A motto is a short sentence, or even just a few words, that a person, a school, a club, a company, or a country holds up as a little rule for how to behave, or as a belief they want remembered. It stays short on purpose, so it sticks: you might see it on a school wall, under a crest, or at the bottom of a sign.
A motto座右銘 is a short sentence, or even just a few words是一句短短的話，甚至只是幾個字 that a person, a school, a club, a company, or a country一個人、一間學校、一個社團、一家公司、或一個國家 holds up as a little rule for how to behave把它當作一個行為的小準則 or as a belief they want remembered或是一個想被記住的信念 — it它 stays short on purpose故意保持簡短 so it sticks這樣才容易記住 you might see it on a school wall你可能會在學校牆上看到它 under a crest在校徽下方 or at the bottom of a sign或印在牌子下方
A school's motto is the line they hope every student will keep; a person's motto is the line they try to live by.
A school's motto學校的校訓 is the line they hope every student will keep是他們希望每個學生都記住的一句話 a person's motto個人的座右銘 is the line they try to live by則是他們努力奉行的一句話
People also use it a little loosely for any favourite saying, even one nobody voted on or in stone.
People大家 also use it a little loosely也會比較鬆散地用它 for any favourite saying來指任何喜歡的一句話 even one nobody voted on or carved in stone就算沒人投票通過、也沒刻在石頭上也算
It feels a bit formal, a bit old-fashioned in chat, but it is still the ordinary word for that official line. You will almost always meet it as a noun.
It它 feels a bit formal, a bit old-fashioned in chat在聊天時聽起來有點正式、有點過時 but it is still the ordinary word for that official line但它仍是那種正式格言的常用字 you幾乎 will almost always meet it as a noun幾乎都是當名詞用
There is a rare verb, to motto something, meaning to put a motto on it — can leave that alone.
There is還有 a rare verb一個少見的動詞 to motto something意思是把座右銘放在某個東西上 meaning to put a motto on it — learners can leave that alone學習者可以先不管這個用法
組成Borrowed in the late 1500s from Italian motto, “a word, a saying,” from Latin muttum, “a mutter, a grunt” — a little sound you make. It is a doublet of mot.
同家族的字
- mota doublet: both come from that Italian/Latin word for a saying; mot is a short witty remark, not used much now
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
mottonoun/ˈmɑ.toʊ/
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A personal slogan.
- You have to be in it to win it — that's my motto.
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governmentheraldryhobbiesA 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.’
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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.
- “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”
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obsoleteA paper packet containing a sweetmeat, cracker, etc., together with a scrap of paper bearing a motto.
mottoverb/ˈmɑ.toʊ/
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To compose mottos.
- The singularity of his epigraphic strategy notwithstanding, Emerson does not draw attention to his own mottoing. One exchange suggests that his practice was a convention imposed from without.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。