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Old English · verb

motan

Normalised mōtan

Part of speech: verb
IPA: /ˈmoː.tɑn/
Syllables: ˈmoː · tɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English: allowed must mote can

Meaning

can (to be allowed)

Rōmāne hæfdon þā nīewlīċe ġesett þæt þā þe hætt beran mōston, þonne hīe hwelċ folc oferwunnen hæfdon, þæt þā mōston ǣġðer habban ġe feorh ġe frēodōm.

The Romans had recently passed a law that whenever they conquered a people, anyone who was allowed to wear a hat could keep both their life and their freedom.
late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
must

Conjugation

Conjugation of motan
Indicative
	Present	Past
1st singular	mōt	mōste
2nd singular	mōst	mōstest
3rd singular	mōt	mōste
Plural	mōton	mōston
Subjunctive
Singular	mōte	mōste
Plural	mōten	mōsten

Non-finite forms of motan
	Form
Infinitive	mōtan

All forms (10)

mōt
mōste
mōst
mōstest
mōton
mōston
mōte
mōten
mōsten
mōtan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *mōtan, from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. Cognate with Old Saxon mōtan, Old High German muozan (German müssen), Gothic (gamōtan).

Descendants

mote, must

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/motan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution