Dictionary Definition
motive adj
1 causing or able to cause motion; "a motive
force"; "motive power"; "motor energy" [syn: motive(a),
motor]
2 impelling to action; "it may well be that
ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap;
"motive pleas"; "motivating arguments" [syn: motivative(a),
motive(a),
motivating]
Noun
1 the psychological feature that arouses an
organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the
action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did
not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"
[syn: motivation,
need]
2 a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of
music [syn: motif]
User Contributed Dictionary
see Motive
English
Etymology
motivusPronunciation
Noun
- That which moves; a mover.
- That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to
choice, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object.
-
- ''When some kid sloppily wrote in the east restroom, "Mr. Angrano’s too harsh; he needs to be fired!" with permanent marker, it had to be Quentin. Even though all students’ handwriting samples didn’t match, we have a solid motive. You see, Quentin says he hates him a lot, and Mr. Angrano has been writing him up this past nine weeks, more than all of his other students. It’s the motive that incited Quentin to vandalize the restroom with his personal attack. First thing tomorrow morning, I will call Quentin into the office and ask him to write the Alphabet with his right hand, as well as the incomplete phrase, "Mr. Angrano is." He’s a lefty if anyone was wondering.''
-
- A theme or subject; a leading phrase or passage which is reproduced and varied through the course of a movement; a short figure, or melodic germ, out of which a whole movement is developed.
- That which produces conception, invention, or creation in the mind of the artist in undertaking his subject; the guiding or controlling idea manifested in a work of art, or any part of one.
Translations
mover
- Finnish: liikevoima
that which incites to action
theme or subject
- Finnish: aihe
guiding or controlling idea manifested in a work
of art
- Finnish: aihe, motiivi
- ttbc Chinese: 动机 (dòngjí)
- ttbc Croatian: motiv
- ttbc Czech: motiv
- ttbc Danish: motiv , bevæggrund
- ttbc Dutch: beweegreden
- ttbc Estonian: motiiv
- ttbc French: motif
- ttbc German: Motiv
- ttbc Italian: motivo
- ttbc Japanese: 理由 (りゆう, riyū)
- ttbc Norwegian: motiv
- ttbc Romanian: motiv
- ttbc Russian: движущий (dvížuščij) , повод (póvod) , мотив (motív)
- ttbc Slovak: motív
- ttbc Slovene: nagib
- ttbc Spanish: motivo
- ttbc Swedish: motiv
- ttbc Turkish: neden, sebep, dürtü
Verb
- To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
Synonyms
Translations
to prompt or incite
- Finnish: motivoida
Adjective
- 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.
- 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society
2007, p. 195:
Translations
causing motion
- Finnish: liike-, liikkeellepaneva, liikunta-
Croatian
Noun
Romanian
Pronunciation
Noun
motive n p- Plural of motiv
Extensive Definition
Motive or motif are terms that turn up in many
different forms in literature and other creative
works, as well as other fields such as business and law.
A motif may be a recurring fragment, theme or
pattern in a creative work:
- Motif (music), a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes.
- Motif (narrative), any recurring element in a story that has symbolic significance.
- Motif (visual arts), a recurrent theme or pattern.
- Motif (chess composition), element of a move in the consideration why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfillment of the problem stipulation.
In mathematics:
In biochemistry:
- Sequence motif, a sequence pattern of nucleotides in a DNA sequence or amino acids in a protein.
- Structural motif, a pattern in a protein structure formed by the spatial arrangement of amino acids.
- A repeating pattern of elements in a crystal structure.
A motive may relate to intent:
- Motive (law), in criminal law.
- Base motive, in psychology. See also motivation.
In music:
- Motive (album), 1990 album by band Red Box
- Yamaha Motif, a music workstation.
- The Motive, a punk band.
Others:
- Motif (widget toolkit), a graphical user interface toolkit used in software development
- Aston Motif, a range of character generators manufactured by Aston Broadcast Systems.
- Motive, Inc., a software manufacturer.
- Motif of harmful sensation, physical or mental damage that a person suffers merely by experiencing what should normally be a benign sensation.
motive in German: Motiv
motive in French: Motif
motive in Korean: 동기
motive in Hebrew: מוטיב
motive in Japanese: 動機
motive in Norwegian: Motiv
motive in Polish: Motyw
motive in Russian: Мотив
motive in Slovak: Motív
motive in Ukrainian: Мотив
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
activating, active, actuating, aim, ambition, angle, animating, animus, antecedent, argument, aspiration, attraction, basis, burden, case, causal, causative, cause, chapter, compelling, concern, consideration, counsel, desideration, desideratum, design, desire, determinant, determination, device, directive, driving, effect, emotion, end, enticement, essence, feeling, figure, fixed purpose, focus of
attention, focus of interest, function, gist, goad, goal, grounds, head, heading, idea, impellent, impelling, impulsive, in motion, incentive, incitement, inducement, inducive, influence, intendment, intent, intention, issue, kinetic, leitmotiv, living issue,
lure, main point, matter, matter in hand, meaning, meat, mind, mobile, motif, motile, motivating, motivating force,
motivation, motivational, motor, moving, nisus, object, objective, operative, passion, pattern, phrase, plan, point, point at issue, point in
question, pressing,
problem, prod, project, propellant, propelling, proposal, propulsive, propulsory, prospectus, pulsive, purpose, pushing, question, rationale, reason, resolution, resolve, rubric, sake, shoving, spring, spur, stimulation, stimulus, stirring, striving, study, subject, subject matter, subject
of thought, substance,
text, theme, thrusting, topic, transitional, traveling, urge, urgent, view, will