Motto

google

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late 16th century: from Italian, ‘word’.

wiktionary

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Borrowed from Italian motto(“a word, a saying”), from Latin muttum(“a mutter, a grunt”), late 16th c.. Doublet of mot.

etymonline

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motto (n.)

1580s, "word or phrase on an emblem explaining or emphasizing its symbolic significance; phrase or short sentence inscribed on something used to indicate the tenor of that to which it is attached," from Italian motto "a saying, legend attached to a heraldic design," from Late Latin muttum "a grunt; a word," from Latin muttire "to mutter, mumble, murmur" (see mutter). Meaning "proverbial pithy maxim adopted by someone as a rule of conduct" is from 1796. Motto-kiss "candy wrapped in fancy paper having a motto or scrap of poetry enclosed with it" is from 1858.