moot [OE] Groups of law students are sometimes given the exercise of discussing an imaginary doubtful law case for practice. This is an old training method, which died out in the 19th century but has since been reintroduced into university law courses. A discussion of this kind is a moot, and in the USA a moot court is a mock court at which law students argue imaginary cases. These legal assemblies are behind a moot point [M16th], one which is subject to debate or is no longer of any practical purpose. Originally moot was used more widely, of any meeting or assembly. The word derives from the same root as meet [OE].