 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
motive
adjective
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}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Motive \Mo"tive\, noun [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; motivation[2].
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Motive \Mo"tive\, verb (used with an object)
To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Motive \Mo"tive\, adjective
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.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
135 Moby Thesaurus words for "motive":
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
|
