moat en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /moʊt/ (General-American)
- /məʊt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
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.
Meanings
- A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.
-
(figuratively) A characteristic of a business that enhances its resilience against competitive pressures, arising from the inherent nature of its products, services, brand, or other structural advantages.
No matter how good your company's product is or how quickly the industry is growing, if there is no moat, competitors will invade your castle and burn it down.
2013, John Mauldin, Jonathan Tepper, Code Red: How to Protect Your Savings From the Coming Crisis, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:“I think ‘moats’ are lame,” Mr. Musk had said during a Tesla earnings call. It was a criticism of an economic principle that Mr. Buffett had coined in 1999 and that has become something of a mantra for his faithful: Invest in businesses “that have wide, sustainable moats around them.”
2018 May 7, Andrew Ross Sorkin, quoting Elon Musk, “Elon Musk Wants to Fill Warren Buffett’s ‘Moat’ With Candy, but It Still Holds Water”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Moreover, where older firms might have to stave off competitors and engage in practices like predatory pricing to keep the competition at bay, platform monopolies have a built-in moat. Since a platform’s value comes from its number of users—a phenomenon known as the network effect—competing against large platforms is nigh impossible since its monopoly position makes it inherently more useful.
2023 November 28, JS Tan, “It's All Bullshit”, in The Baffler:
- A circular lowland between a resurgent dome and the walls of the caldera surrounding it.
- A clear ring outside the eyewall of a tropical cyclone.
- (obsolete) A hill or mound.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| moats | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
moaty · Gaussian moat · moatlike · economic moat
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (93)
eo fosaĵo (defensive ditch) · vi hào (defensive ditch) · nn vollgrav (defensive ditch) · ka თხრილი (defensive ditch) · kk ор (defensive ditch) · mk ров (defensive ditch) · oc doga (defensive ditch) · ko 성호 (defensive ditch) · fa پارگین (defensive ditch) · ota خندق (defensive ditch) · cy ffos (defensive ditch) · da voldgrav (defensive ditch) · pt fosso (defensive ditch) · bo ཆུ་དོང་ལྕགས་རི (defensive ditch) · gl foso (defensive ditch) · is kastalasíki (defensive ditch) · ta அகழி (defensive ditch) · vi hố (defensive ditch) · th คูปราสาท (defensive ditch) · hu sáncárok (defensive ditch) · scn fussatu (defensive ditch) · nl gracht (defensive ditch) · cs vodní příkop (defensive ditch) · hy խրամ (defensive ditch) · ga díog (defensive ditch) · is díki (defensive ditch) · ja 堀 (defensive ditch) · gl cárcava (defensive ditch) · uz xandaq (defensive ditch) · is síki (defensive ditch) · hu vizesárok (defensive ditch) · tr hendek (defensive ditch) · it fosso (defensive ditch) · az xəndək (defensive ditch) · cs příkop (defensive ditch) · es fosa (defensive ditch) · cmn 城壕 (defensive ditch) · uk рів (defensive ditch) · cmn 護城河 /护城河 (defensive ditch) · ka გუბი (defensive ditch) · et vallikraav (defensive ditch) · hi खाई (defensive ditch) · es cava (defensive ditch) · ga móta (defensive ditch) · io fosato (defensive ditch) · hi परिखा (defensive ditch) · scn fossa (defensive ditch) · fa خندق (defensive ditch) · mi awamate (defensive ditch) · nl slotgracht (defensive ditch) · fr douve (defensive ditch) · be роў (defensive ditch) · tg хандақ (defensive ditch) · ta பாதுகாப்பு பள்ளம் (defensive ditch) · is virkisgröf (defensive ditch) · el τάφρος (defensive ditch) · ca fossat (defensive ditch) · es foso (defensive ditch) · bg ров (defensive ditch) · oc valat (defensive ditch) · it canalone (defensive ditch) · lv aizsarggrāvis (defensive ditch) · ar خَنْدَق (defensive ditch) · cmn 護城壕 /护城壕 (defensive ditch) · sl jarek (defensive ditch) · ko 해자 (defensive ditch) · he חֲפִיר (defensive ditch) · pl fosa (defensive ditch) · it canale (defensive ditch) · la fossa (defensive ditch) · ur کھائی (defensive ditch) · sv stormgrav (defensive ditch) · de Burggraben (defensive ditch) · ro șanț (defensive ditch) · my ကျုံး (defensive ditch) · is kastaladíki (defensive ditch) · ur خندق (defensive ditch) · hi ख़ंदक़ (defensive ditch) · it fossato (defensive ditch) · hi खाल (defensive ditch) · ru ров (defensive ditch) · km ស្នាមភ្លោះ (defensive ditch) · sh шанац (defensive ditch) · de Wassergraben (defensive ditch) · cmn 城河 (defensive ditch) · th คูเมือง (defensive ditch) · ko 호 (defensive ditch) · sh šanac (defensive ditch) · mk шанец (defensive ditch) · nb vollgrav (defensive ditch) · sk priekopa (defensive ditch) · sv vallgrav (defensive ditch) · fi vallihauta (defensive ditch)