mætun

Mótun is an Icelandic noun meaning the act or process of forming, shaping, or molding. It derives from the verb móta, to shape or form. The word is used in both concrete and abstract senses to denote how something is formed or organized.

In engineering and manufacturing, mótun describes forming processes applied to materials, such as metal forming (mótun málms) and plastic forming (plastmótun). These terms cover operations that alter a material's shape through compressive, tensile, or thermal forces.

In geography and geology, landmótun refers to the creation and modification of landforms by natural forces such as erosion, deposition, and tectonics.

In the social sciences and education, mótun denotes development or shaping of phenomena such as personality (mótun persónuleika), behavior, curricula, or institutions, and in policy contexts it can refer to the formulation or shaping of strategies and guidelines (mótun stefnu).

In art and design, mótun can denote the shaping of form in a work, though hönnun is more commonly used for design tasks; mótun emphasizes the act of forming rather than the finished product. The term is widely used across disciplines to describe constructive change and development.