Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Motive
Mo′tive
,Noun.
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.
–
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. Mo′tive
,Adj.
Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move;
“Motive faculty.” as, a
. motive
argument; motive
powerBp. Wilkins.
Motive power
(Mach.)
, a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover.
Mo′tive
,Verb.
T.
To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
Webster 1828 Edition
Motive
MO'TIVE
,Adj.
MO'TIVE
, n.1.
That which incites to action; that which determines the choice, or moves the will. Thus we speak of good motives, and bad motives; strong and weak motives. The motive to continue at rest is ease or satisfaction; the motive to change is uneasiness, or the prospect of good.2.
That which may or ought to incite to action; reason; cause.3.
A mover. [Not in use.]