moot

 
Pronunciation: /muːt/

adjective

  • 1subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty: whether the temperature rise was mainly due to the greenhouse effect was a moot point
  • 2North American having little or no practical relevance: the whole matter is becoming increasingly moot

verb

[with object]
  • raise (a question or topic) for discussion; suggest (an idea or possibility): the scheme was first mooted last October

noun

  • 1 historical an assembly held for debate, especially in Anglo-Saxon and medieval times.
  • a regular gathering of people having a common interest.
  • 2 Law a mock judicial proceeding set up to examine a hypothetical case as an academic exercise: the object of a moot is to provide practice in developing an argument

Origin:

Old English mōt 'assembly or meeting' and mōtian 'to converse', of Germanic origin; related to meet1. The adjective (originally an attributive noun use: see moot court) dates from the mid 16th century; the current verb sense dates from the mid 17th century

Note that a question subject to debate or dispute is a moot point, not a mute point. As moot is a relatively uncommon word people sometimes interpret it as the more familiar word mute.