# motive

Pronunciation: say "MOH-tiv" US /ˈmoʊtɪv/, UK /ˈməʊtɪv/

## Noun

1. A reason, feeling, or incentive that makes someone want to act in a particular way.
   - Simple: A reason or feeling that makes someone want to do something.
   - _Investigators struggled to identify a plausible motive behind the anonymous donation._
   - _Her motives for joining the committee were entirely selfless._
2. A reason or cause that drives someone to commit a crime.
   - Simple: A reason that makes someone want to commit a crime.
   - _Prosecutors argued that financial gain was the defendant's motive._
   - _Detectives looked for a motive linking the suspect to the victim._
6. Alternative form of motif. — Alternative form of motif.
   - Simple: Alternative form of motif. It means a repeated design, idea, or pattern in art or music.
   - _The architect borrowed a classical motive for the building's facade._
   - _Critics traced the recurring motive through all three movements of the symphony._
7. A party or other social gathering where people get together. *(British)*
   - Simple: A party, or a time when people meet up to have fun together.
   - _Half the year group turned up to his motive, and the DJ played until two in the morning._
   - _She's hosting a motive for her birthday this weekend._
8. A person's plans for the day or night. *(British)*
   - Simple: What someone is planning to do during the day or night.
   - _The motive for Saturday is dinner in town, then a club if anyone's still awake._
   - _Their motive for the evening fell apart when it started raining._

## Adjective

3. Causing or able to produce motion; tending to move something.
   - Simple: Able to cause movement or to make things move.
   - _The factory relied on water as its primary motive power._
   - _Engineers studied the motive force generated by the expanding gas._
4. Concerning motion or the cause of motion.
   - Simple: Having to do with movement or what causes it.
   - _The anatomist described the motive functions of the limbs._
   - _Their study examined the motive characteristics of flowing water._

## Verb

5. To prompt or drive someone to act through a motive or reason.
   - Simple: To make someone want to act, or to push them into doing something.
   - _Curiosity can motive scientists to pursue difficult questions for years._
   - _The reward motived the whole team to finish the project early._

## Noun

9. An idea or message that makes one want to act, especially a divine prompting from a spiritual source. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A message, often from God, that makes someone want to act.
10. A limb or other bodily organ capable of movement. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A body part, such as an arm or leg, that can move.

## Origin

From Middle English motif, borrowed via Anglo-Norman and Middle French motif, all going back to Late Latin motivum meaning 'motive, moving cause', the neuter form of motivus.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/motive (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).