Moat | Definition, Facts, & Examples (2024)

FAQs

Moat | Definition, Facts, & Examples? ›

moat, a depression surrounding a castle, city wall, or other fortification, usually but not always filled with water. The existence of a moat was a natural result of early methods of fortification by earthworks, for the ditch produced by the removal of earth to form a rampart made a valuable part of the defense system.

Castle moats were usually between 5 and 40 feet deep, and they were not always filled with water. Not all moats contained water, as a simple dry, wide ditch could prove an obstacle. These were called dry moats. In many stories, moats are filled with alligators or crocodiles.

One example of an economic moat is economies of scale. As a company achieves economies of scale, it can produce each unit for less than it could before, meaning that it can charge less for that product in the marketplace, which would attract customers and undercut competitors.

Medieval Times

A moat is a deep ditch that can be filled with water that surrounds a castle or a fort for protection. You want to go explore inside the castle, but cannot get across the moat on your horse. You need a drawbridge, a bridge that can be lowered and raised quickly, to cross the moat.

: a deep and wide trench around the rampart of a fortified place (such as a castle) that is usually filled with water.

Later in Medieval Europe, deep and broad ditches were built around castles and towns to provide defence against attacking armies. Moats made access to the walls of the castle difficult for siege weapons such as battering rams and catapults. Those moats which were the widest offered the best defence.

Moats often did contain eels and fish, however. Castle residents would stock moats with these creatures to use for food.

We assign Disney a wide economic moat, based on its media networks and brand recognition.

The etymology of moat is simple: it derives from Anglo-French motte, meaning "mound," "hill," or "bank." Its flow of meaning is as follows.

Starbucks is the world's largest roaster, marketer, and retailer of specialty coffee. The company has been able to build a moat to fend off competition for years to come. Starbucks' moat is derived from its pricing power, cost advantage, and customer satisfaction.

What is usually in a moat? ›

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices.

A moat, in most of the border would be pretty much impossible to keep filled with water, and the crocodiles and piranha wouldn't last a week in that environment.

Around 3000 BCE, the Sumerians developed a numerical system based on the sexagesimal system (base 60), which is still in use for measuring time (seconds, minutes, and degrees in a circle) today. They also made strides in geometry, algebra, and arithmetic.

Consequently, there were not alligators in the moats of European castles. Or, indeed, of anybody's castles.

With an average depth of about 30 feet, stagnant moats were as effective as “living” ones for preventing attackers and siege engines reach the castle walls. Moats also prevented attackers from tunnelling underneath the castle walls. To overcome a moat, one method used was to create a makeshift bridge.

Economic moats protect a business, providing them an advantage over their competitors. The term was popularised by Warren Buffett with the rationale that businesses with sustainable competitive advantages or 'moats' will be more profitable in the long run than their peers.