motive
An incentive to act in a particular wayAn 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.
Recorded US: Gbeebani, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Tom had no motive to kill Mary.
У Тома не было мотивов для убийства Мэри. — marafon
Том не мав мотиву вбивати Мері. — Anjy
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
6 sensesAn 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.
Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour.
What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?
No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
Motiv, Beweggrund
моти́вmotív, по́водpóvod
моти́вmotýv
(UK)A party, gathering, or get-together.
(UK)One's plans for the day or night.
What's the motive for tonight, lads?
(obsolete)An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
(obsolete, rare)A limb or other bodily organ that can move.
- 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
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
Examples
138 sentencesTom had no motive to kill Mary.
Том не мав мотиву вбивати Мері. — Anjy
ruУ Тома не было мотивов для убийства Мэри. — marafon
The motive for the murder isn't yet known.
Мотив убивства й досі невідомий. — deniko
Who had a motive to kill Tom?
У кого був мотив убити Тома? — miketheknight
Tom had a motive.
У Тома був мотив. — deniko
My motives were personal.
У мене були особисті мотиви. — deniko
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source,From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: motivesSynonyms
4 synonyms- 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:motivationneed
- a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration:motif
- a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music:motif
Word family
9 related wordsCollocations
4 patterns- ulterior motives
- motive for the
- motive for doing
- the motive for
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.