21 results for: Motive

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mo·tive

Audio Help [moh-tiv] Pronunciation Key noun, adjective, verb, -tived, -tiv·ing.

–noun

1.	something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive.

2.	the goal or object of a person's actions: Her motive was revenge.

3.	(in art, literature, and music) a motif.

–adjective

4.	causing, or tending to cause, motion.

5.	pertaining to motion.

6.	prompting to action.

7.	constituting a motive or motives.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to motivate.

[Origin: 1325–75; (adj.) ME (< MF motif) < ML mōtīvus serving to move, equiv. to L mōt(us) (ptp. of movére to move) + -īvus -ive; (n.) ME (< MF motif) < ML mōtīvum, n. use of neut. of mōtīvus

]

—Related forms

mo·tive·less, adjective

mo·tive·less·ly, adverb

mo·tive·less·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. motivation, incitement, stimulus, spur; influence, occasion, ground, cause. Motive, incentive, inducement apply to whatever moves one to action. Motive is, literally, something that moves a person; an inducement, something that leads a person on; an incentive, something that inspires a person. Motive is applied mainly to an inner urge that moves or prompts a person to action, though it may also apply to a contemplated result, the desire for which moves the person: His motive was a wish to be helpful. Inducement is never applied to an inner urge, and seldom to a goal: The pleasure of wielding authority may be an inducement to get ahead. It is used mainly of opportunities offered by the acceptance of certain conditions, whether these are offered by a second person or by the factors of the situation: The salary offered me was a great inducement. Incentive was once used of anything inspiring or stimulating the emotions or imagination: incentives to piety; it has retained of this its emotional connotations, but (rather like inducement) is today applied only to something offered as a reward, and offered particularly to stimulate competitive activity: to create incentives for higher achievement. 2. See reason.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Motive

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mo·tive Audio Help (mō'tĭv) Pronunciation Key
n.

An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action.
(mō'tĭv, mō-tēv') A motif in art, literature, or music.

adj.

Causing or able to cause motion: motive power.
Impelling to action: motive pleas.
Of or constituting an incitement to action.

tr.v. mo·tived, mo·tiv·ing, mo·tives
To motivate.

[Middle English motif, motive, from Old French motif, from Late Latin mōtīvus, of motion, from Latin mōtus, past participle of movēre, to move; see meuə- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
motive

1362, "something brought forward," from O.Fr. motif (n.), from motif (fem. motive), adj., "moving," from M.L. motivus "moving, impelling," from L. motus, pp. of movere "to move" (see move). Meaning "that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way" is from c.1412.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

motive
adjective
1.	causing or able to cause motion; "a motive force"; "motive power"; "motor energy"
2.	impelling to action; "it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive pleas"; "motivating arguments" [syn: motivative]
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]
2.	a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music [syn: motif]
3.	a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration [syn: motif]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
motive [ˈməutiv] noun

something that makes a person choose to act in a particular way; a reason
Example: What was his motive for murdering the old lady?

Arabic:	دافِع، حافِز
Chinese (Simplified):	动机
Chinese (Traditional):	動機
Czech:	motiv
Danish:	motiv; bevæggrund
Dutch:	beweegreden
Estonian:	motiiv
Finnish:	motiivi
French:	motif
German:	das Motiv
Greek:	κίνητρο,ελατήριο
Hungarian:	indíték
Icelandic:	tilefni
Indonesian:	motif
Italian:	motivo

Japanese:	動機
Korean:	동기
Latvian:	motīvs; iemesls
Lithuanian:	motyvas, akstinas
Norwegian:	motiv, begrunnelse
Polish:	motyw
Portuguese (Brazil):	motivo
Portuguese (Portugal):	motivo
Romanian:	motiv
Russian:	повод; мотив
Slovak:	motív
Slovenian:	nagib
Spanish:	motivo
Swedish:	motiv
Turkish:	neden, sebep, dürtü

See also: motivate

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mo·tive (mtv)
n.

An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action. Also called learned drive.

adj.

Causing or able to cause motion.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: mo·tive
Pronunciation: 'mOt-iv
Function: noun
: something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: mo·tive
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French motif, from Middle French motif adjective, moving, from Medieval Latin motivus, from Latin motus, past participle of movEre to move
: something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act
NOTE: In criminal law, motive is distinguished from intent or mens rea. Although motive is not an element of a crime, evidence regarding motives can be introduced to help establish intent. In contract law, motive is usually distinguished from cause or consideration.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

In*duce"ment\, n. [From Induce.]

1. The act of inducing, or the state of being induced.

2. That which induces; a motive or consideration that leads one to action or induces one to act; as, reward is an inducement to toil. "Mark the inducement." --Shak.

3. (Law) Matter stated by way of explanatory preamble or introduction to the main allegations of a pleading; a leading to.

Syn: Motive; reason; influence. See Motive.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tile\, a. [See Motive.]

1. (Biol.) Having powers of self-motion, though unconscious; as, the motile spores of certain seaweeds.

2. Producing motion; as, motile powers.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tive\, n. [F. motif, LL. motivum, from motivus moving, fr. L. movere, motum, to move. See Move.]

1. That which moves; a mover. [Obs.] --Shak.

2. That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object.

By motive, I mean the whole of that which moves, excites, or invites the mind to volition, whether that be one thing singly, or many things conjunctively. --J. Edwards.

3. (Mus.) The theme or subject; a leading phrase or passage which is reproduced and varied through the course of a comor a movement; a short figure, or melodic germ, out of which a whole movement is develpoed. See also Leading motive, under Leading. [Written also motivo.]

4. (Fine Arts) 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.

Syn: Incentive; incitement; inducement; reason; spur; stimulus; cause.

Usage: Motive, Inducement, Reason. Motive is the word originally used in speaking of that which determines the choice. We call it an inducement when it is attractive in its nature. We call it a reason when it is more immediately addressed to the intellect in the form of argument.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tive\, n. [F. motif, LL. motivum, from motivus moving, fr. L. movere, motum, to move. See Move.]

1. That which moves; a mover. [Obs.] --Shak.

2. That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object.

By motive, I mean the whole of that which moves, excites, or invites the mind to volition, whether that be one thing singly, or many things conjunctively. --J. Edwards.

Syn: Incentive; incitement; inducement; reason; spur; stimulus; cause.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tive\, a. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power. "Motive faculty." --Bp. Wilkins.

Motive power (Mach.), a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tive\, v. t. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo*tiv"i*ty\, n. [See Motive, n.]

1. The power of moving or producing motion.

2. The quality of being influenced by motives. [R.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo*ti"vo\, n. [It. See Motive, n.] See Motive, n., 3, 4.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo*ti"vo\, n. [It. See Motive, n.] See Motive, n., 3, 4.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"tile\, a. [See Motive.]

1. (Biol.) Exhibiting, or capable of, spontaneous movement; as, motile cilia, motile spores, etc.

2. Producing motion; as, motile powers.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Mo"ti*vate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. -vated; p. pr. & vb. n. -vating.] [From Motive, n.] To provide with a motive; to move; impel; induce; incite. -- Mo`ti*va"tion, n. --William James.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Motive

Rea"son\, n. [OE. resoun, F. raison, fr. L. ratio (akin to Goth. rapj? number, account, garapjan to count, G. rede speech, reden to speak), fr. reri, ratus, to reckon, believe, think. Cf. Arraign, Rate, Ratio, Ration.]

1. A thought or a consideration offered in support of a determination or an opinion; a just ground for a conclusion or an action; that which is offered or accepted as an explanation; the efficient cause of an occurrence or a phenomenon; a motive for an action or a determination; proof, more or less decisive, for an opinion or a conclusion; principle; efficient cause; final cause; ground of argument.

I'll give him reasons for it. --Shak.

The reason of the motion of the balance in a wheel watch is by the motion of the next wheel. --Sir M. Hale.

This reason did the ancient fathers render, why the church was called "catholic." --Bp. Pearson.

Virtue and vice are not arbitrary things; but there is a natural and eternal reason for that goodness and virtue, and against vice and wickedness. --Tillotson.

2. The faculty of capacity of the human mind by which it is distinguished from the intelligence of the inferior animals; the higher as distinguished from the lower cognitive faculties, sense, imagination, and memory, and in contrast to the feelings and desires. Reason comprises conception, judgment, reasoning, and the intuitional faculty. Specifically, it is the intuitional faculty, or the faculty of first truths, as distinguished from the understanding, which is called the discursive or ratiocinative faculty.

We have no other faculties of perceiving or knowing anything divine or human, but by our five senses and our reason. --P. Browne.

In common and popular discourse, reason denotes that power by which we distinguish truth from falsehood, and right from wrong, and by which we are enabled to combine means for the attainment of particular ends. --Stewart.

Reason is used sometimes to express the whole of those powers which elevate man above the brutes, and constitute his rational nature, more especially, perhaps, his intellectual powers; sometimes to express the power of deduction or argumentation. --Stewart.

By the pure reason I mean the power by which we become possessed of principles. --Coleridge.

The sense perceives; the understanding, in its own peculiar operation, conceives; the reason, or rationalized understanding, comprehends. --Coleridge.

3. Due exercise of the reasoning faculty; accordance with, or that which is accordant with and ratified by, the mind rightly exercised; right intellectual judgment; clear and fair deductions from true principles; that which is dictated or supported by the common sense of mankind; right conduct; right; propriety; justice.

I was promised, on a time, To have reason for my rhyme. --Spenser.

But law in a free nation hath been ever public reason; the enacted reason of a parliament, which he denying to enact, denies to govern us by that which ought to be our law; interposing his own private reason, which to us is no law. --Milton.

The most probable way of bringing France to reason would be by the making an attempt on the Spanish West Indies. --Addison.

4. (Math.) Ratio; proportion. [Obs.] --Barrow.

By reason of, by means of; on account of; because of. "Spain is thin sown of people, partly by reason of the sterility of the soil." --Bacon.

In reason,

In all reason, in justice; with rational ground; in a right view.

When anything is proved by as good arguments as a thing of that kind is capable of, we ought not, in reason, to doubt of its existence. --Tillotson.

It is reason, it is reasonable; it is right. [Obs.]

Yet it were great reason, that those that have children should have greatest care of future times. --Bacon.

Syn: Motive; argument; ground; consideration; principle; sake; account; object; purpose; design. See Motive, Sense.

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