Hypertext Webster Gateway: "moat"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Moat \Moat\, n. [OF. mote hill, dike, bank, F. motte clod, turf:
cf. Sp. & Pg. mota bank or mound of earth, It. motta clod,
LL. mota, motta, a hill on which a fort is built, an
eminence, a dike, Prov. G. mott bog earth heaped up; or perh.
F. motte, and OF. mote, are from a LL. p. p. of L. movere to
move (see {Move}). The name of moat, properly meaning, bank
or mound, was transferred to the ditch adjoining: cf. F. dike
and ditch.] (Fort.)
A deep trench around the rampart of a castle or other
fortified place, sometimes filled with water; a ditch.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Moat \Moat\, v. t.
To surround with a moat. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Ditch \Ditch\ (?; 224), n.; pl. {Ditches}. [OE. dich, orig. the
same word as dik. See {Dike}.]
1. A trench made in the earth by digging, particularly a
trench for draining wet land, for guarding or fencing
inclosures, or for preventing an approach to a town or
fortress. In the latter sense, it is called also a {moat}
or a {fosse}.
2. Any long, narrow receptacle for water on the surface of
the earth.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
moat
n : ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water
[syn: {fosse}]
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