Today we "dive" into another part of a castle (clever, eh? my wife didn't think so either), this time, the:
Moat -- a deep and wide trench around the rampart of a fortified place (such as a castle) that is usually filled with water
I just did a quick look up and though it sounds just like mote (a speck of something), it does not have the same derivation. Our moat comes from 15th century Middle English mote while mote comes from 12th century Middle English mot. Confused yet? Me, too. But for sure we know what a moat looks like...
and...
