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motive

Pronunciation: /ˈməʊtɪv/
Translate motive | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of motive

noun

  • 1a reason for doing something:police were unable to establish a motive for his murder
  • 2a motif in art, literature, or music.

adjective

[attributive]
  • 1producing physical or mechanical motion:the charge of gas is the motive force for every piston stroke
  • 2causing or being the reason for something:the motive principle of a writer’s work

Derivatives

motiveless

adjective

motivity

Pronunciation: /-ˈtɪvɪti/
noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French motif (adjective used as a noun), from late Latin motivus, from movere 'to move'

motive in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of motive in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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