---
title: moot — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «moot» in the school dictionary: A moot point is a question that people still argue about and have not settled. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moot/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [M](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/) / moot

# moot

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** moot point, people, wolf, teacher, moot question · **What happens:** be, argue, not settle, moot, settle, write · **To what, where:** question, idea, moot point, trip, Nobody, tale

<!-- .vabout -->
«moot» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [moot in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/moot.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A moot point is a question that people still argue about and have not settled.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moot:m1:1
# text = A moot point is a question that people still argue about and have not settled.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	moot	moot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obj	_	_
8	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	still	still	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	argue	argue	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	about	about	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	settled	settle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a moot point | a question |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | present | people | a question |  |  | still | about *property* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent that=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **settle** | present · perfect | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: formal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To moot an idea is to raise it for discussion.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moot:m2:1
# text = To moot an idea is to raise it for discussion.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	moot	moot	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	raise	raise	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	discussion	discussion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moot** | to-infinitive |  | a idea |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent idea=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | for discussion; raise *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether the wolf was really a dog is a moot point.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moot:x1:1
# text = Whether the wolf was really a dog is a moot point.
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
5	really	really	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	moot	moot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the wolf | a moot point |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher mooted a trip to the zoo.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moot:x2:1
# text = The teacher mooted a trip to the zoo.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	mooted	moot	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	zoo	zoo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moot** | past | the teacher | a trip |  |  |  | to the zoo | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: agent=Agent trip=Theme to zoo=be' |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody has settled the moot question of who first wrote the tale.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:moot:x3:1
# text = Nobody has settled the moot question of who first wrote the tale.
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	settled	settle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	moot	moot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	10	advmod	_	_
10	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **settle** | present · perfect · passive |  | Nobody |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **write** | past | the moot question | the tale |  |  |  | first *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tale=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [moose](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/moose/)
- next →: [mop](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mop/)
- ↑ back to [M in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/)