motive

1. n. That which moves; a mover. Source: opted

2. n. That which incites to action; anything prompting or exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason; inducement; object. Source: opted

3. 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. Source: opted

4. 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. Source: opted

5. a. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power. Source: opted

6. v. t. To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move. Source: opted

7. adj. causing or able to cause motion Source: wordnet

8. adj. impelling to action Source: wordnet

9. n. 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 Source: wordnet

10. n. a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music Source: wordnet

11. n. a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration Source: wordnet

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