MOAT

Where it comes from

From Middle English mote, from Old French mote (“mound, embankment”); compared also to Old French motte (“hillock, lump, clod, turf”), from Medieval Latin mota (“a mound, hill”), of Germanic origin, perhaps via Frankish *mot, *motta (“mud, peat, bog, turf”), from Proto-Germanic *mutô, *mudraz, *muþraz (“dirt, filth, mud, swamp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mut- (“dark, dirty”). Cognate with Alemannic German Mott, Mutte (“peat, turf”), Bavarian Mott (“peat, turf”), dialectal Dutch mot (“dust, fine sand”), Saterland Frisian mut (“grit, litter, humus”), Swedish muta (“to drizzle”), Old English mot (“speck, particle”). More at mote, mud, smut. As term for a business strategy, popularized by American investor Warren Buffett.

Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).

MOAT in OUTLIER

Players have found it on 31 boards so far. 49 players have found it across Outlier's history.

It first turned up on Day 4, 25 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 107, 4 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.

First found by a player on Day 4, 25 May 2026.

Built from these letters

MOAT starts with M and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read AMOT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.

Same letters, different word

One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.

Words that start MOAT

Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.

Also seen on Day 4