motive

Meaning

Verb

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

Noun

1. (obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
2. 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.
3. (obsolete) A limb or other bodily organ that can move.
4. Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
5. Alternative form of motif

Adj

1. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move
2. Relating to motion and/or to its cause

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈməʊtɪv/

Etymology

From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus.