mote

/moʊt/

/məʊt/

Other forms: motes

Say the word: mote. It's short and quick, isn't it? The word corresponds to its meaning, which is something tiny: a speck of dust, a bit of fluff, a speckle of gold in the prospector's pan.

We're not sure of the origin of the word mote, except that it is related to Germanic words meaning "sawdust or grit, tiny dust particles." We think of a mote as the tiniest of objects, but astronomer Carl Sagan demonstrates a different perspective when he looked at a photograph of Earth taken from a great distance by Voyager I and said, "We live on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

Definitions of mote

1. noun

   (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
   synonyms: atom, corpuscle, molecule, particle, speck

   types:

   grain

   a relatively small granular particle of a substance

   grinding

   material resulting from the process of grinding

   chylomicron

   a microscopic particle of triglycerides produced in the intestines during digestion; in the bloodstream they release their fatty acids into the blood

   flyspeck

   a tiny dark speck made by the excrement of a fly

   identification particle

   a tiny particle of material that can be added to a product to indicate the source of manufacture

   granule

   a tiny grain

   Microtaggant

   (trademark) a microscopic and traceable identification particle used to trace explosives or other hazardous materials or to prevent counterfeiting

   type of:

   material, stuff

   the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object