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motive

noun
/ˈməʊtɪv/UK/ˈmoʊtɪv/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Late Latin moveō Late Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Late Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus.

  1. derived from motivum — “motive, moving cause”
  2. derived from motif
  3. derived from motif
  4. inherited from motif

Definitions

  1. An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources

    An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.

    • 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

    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.

    • Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic.
    • “Your job here is to find the good things in your colleagues—the things their state saw—and not focus on the bad.” I said I understand. “And, Joe, never attack another man’s motive, because you don’t know his motive.”

  3. A limb or other bodily organ that can move.

    • every joint and motive of her body
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime

      Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.

      • 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.
      • “Why should Eldridge commit murder?[…]There was only one possible motive—namely, he wished to avoid detection as James Selby of Anaconda Ltd. […]”

    2. Alternative form of motif.

      • If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.

    3. A party, gathering, or get-together.

    4. One's plans for the day or night.

      • What's the motive for tonight, lads?

    5. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives

      To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

    6. Causing motion

      Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move

      • a motive argument
      • motive power
      • 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.

    7. Relating to motion and/or to its cause

      • Debussy's melody is fractional, fragmentary. But at the core all his music is melodic and melody is its main motive force.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at motive. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01motive02organ03apparatus04production05bringing06bring07occasion

A definitional loop anchored at motive. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at motive

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA