Motive
['məʊtɪv] or ['motɪv]
Definition
(adj.) causing or able to cause motion; 'a motive force'; 'motive power'; 'motor energy' .
Editor: Moore--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which moves; a mover.
(n.) That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(a.) Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power.
(v. t.) To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
Editor: Rosalie
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Inducement, incentive, impulse, incitement, stimulus, prompting, influence, reason, ground, principle, consideration, cause, occasion, prime mover, why and wherefore.
Edited by Angus
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Inducement, purpose, design, prompting, stimulus, reason, impulse, incitement
ANT:Execution, action, effort, deed, attempt, project, preventive, deterrent,dissuasive
Editor: Tracy
Definition
adj. causing motion: having power to cause motion.—n. that which moves or excites to action: inducement: reason.—v.t. to act on as a motive instigate.—v.t. Mō′tivāte to act on as a motive induce.—n. Motivā′tion.—adj. Mōtiveless.—ns. Mō′tivelessness; Mō′tive-power or -force the force acting upon a body so as to cause it to move; Motiv′ity power of producing motion: the quality of being influenced by motion.
Typed by Jaime
Examples
- This was a very primitive device, requiring several minutes for the engine to make one stroke, but it was the beginning of the practical use of steam as a motive power. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Start with your motive. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- That's what bothers me--I can't put my hand on a motive. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- What can be the motive for such extraordinary conduct as that? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- But now it comes out: 'My motive for cautioning you is as follows. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- The engineer in telephony cannot increase his motive power. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Stephenson saw that he must in some way increase the power of his engine if he was to provide a new motive power for the mines. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- No motive was suggested. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Some virtuous motive, therefore, must be antecedent to that regard. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- He proposed to use gunpowder gas as the motive power. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- As the question passed his lips, I penetrated the motive of the Indian's visit to my office at last! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- You have, no doubt, a personal motive for proceeding, into which it is not my business to inquire. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Whatever the motive, you want the best? Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- There's no motive, Mr. Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- All the other enterprizes of the Spaniards in the New World, subsequent to those of Columbus, seem to have been prompted by the same motive. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The same experienced union has the same effect on the mind, whether the united objects be motives, volitions and actions; or figure and motion. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- According to that doctrine, motives deprive us not of free-will, nor take away our power of performing or forbearing any action. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Could softer motives influence me? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Most of its motives are purely instinctive, and all the mental life that it has is the result of heredity (birth inheritance). H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Judge from this, what motives he had to run the risk which he actually ran. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She felt so free from ulterior motives that she took up his charge with a touch of resentment. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- They were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- A man may, from various motives, decline to give his company, but perhaps not even a sage would be gratified that nobody missed him. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- These are the motives which I have been pressing on you. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Most people have motives of some sort for their actions. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The tangle of motives and facts and ideas was incredible. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- I was not fond of pampering that susceptible vanity of his; but for once, and from motives of expediency, I would e'en soothe and stimulate it. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Were it not, mere charity or friendship could be the only motives for lending. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I assure you I am in no danger of putting any strained construction on your motives. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The utility element is found in the motives assigned for the study, the liberal element in methods of teaching. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
Typist: Nelda