• Motive

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈməʊtɪv/
    • US IPA: /ˈmoÊŠtɪv/

    Origin

    Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum ("motive, moving cause"), neuter of motivus ("serving to move").

    Full definition of motive

    Noun

    motive

    (plural motives)
    1. (obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. 14th-17th c.
      • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, III.2.1.ii:there's something in a woman beyond all human delight; a magnetic virtue, a charming quality, an occult and powerful motive.
    2. An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action. from 15th c.
      • 1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano:Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic.
    3. (obsolete, rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move. 15th-17th c.
    4. (legal) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour. from 18th c.What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
      • 1931, w, Death Walks in Eastrepps Chapter 10/6, “Why should Eldridge commit murder?...There was only one possible motive—namely, he wished to avoid detection as James Selby of Anaconda Ltd....”
    5. (architecture, fine arts) A motif. from 19th c.
    6. (music) A motif; a theme or subject, especially one that is central to the work or often repeated. from 19th c.If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.

    Synonyms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

    Synonyms

    Adjective

    motive

    1. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power.
      • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions; not only in those of Quadrupeds, but in the thigh-bone, legge, foot-bone, and claws of Birds.
    2. Relating to motion and/or to its cause

    Synonyms

    Anagrams

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