Moot

I looked up "moot" today. I have been using this word for years but someone used it in a different way today and I got curious. It turns out I have been using it incorrectly this whole time, but not just me. I often hear it used in the context "that's a moot point", usually to dismiss ideas as irrelevant or pointless. But that's not the meaning of the word at all. See the definition from merriam-webster below.



To summarize, you can only correctly dismiss a point as moot if
1. it assumes something as fact that is actually debatable, or
2. when it's just too abstract to be practically significant

For example, in debating the legality of abortion the point that "God created the embryo so humans have no right to destroy it" is totally moot because the very existence of God is debatable (among other reasons).

I hope this is beneficial to someone else. I bet if you keep using it as a synonym to "irrelevant" no one will notice, though. Perhaps the word is evolving to mean that instead.