▪ I. motive, n.
(ˈməʊtɪv)
Forms: 4 motif(f, 4–5 motyf, 4–6 motyve, 6 motife, -yfe, moitive, 6– motive.
[a. F. motif masc. (in Oresme, 14th c.), subst. use of OF. motif motive a. Cf. Sp., Pg., It. motivo; also G. motiv (from Fr.).]
† 1. Something moved or brought forward; a motion, proposition; esp. in to move (or make) a motive (cf. motion). Obs.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 70 Suche Motyues þei meuen þis Maistres in heor glorie. 1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 12/25 Tho seid þei whan þei were concluded with argumentis on all sides þat Faustus schuld come and he schuld make answere on-to all þese motyues. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 114 Madame..Vnto your grace then make I this motyue; Whereto made ye [etc.]? 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie i. 261 Questions of the lawes of armes with their solucions which he hath deuided into fourteene motiues. 1602 North's Plutarch, Philip (1612) 1135 So he [Philip] made a motiue, that he desired to speake with the townes openly. 1652 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Hist. Relat. 8 If..the great Assembly of the States Generall be to be called for any new extraordinary business..this Councell drawes up the motives and sends them to the particular States of every Province. |
† 2. a. ? A moving impression on the mind. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 530 This gentil kyng hath caught a greet motyf Of this witnesse. |
b. An inward prompting or impulse; chiefly in of, from one's own (or proper) motive. Chiefly Sc. Cf. motion n. 9. Obs.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 60 Thre worthi princis come till him of thair awin curage and propre motyf. 1546 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 55 Of his awin fre will and motive, uncompellit or coactit. 1600 Holland Livy xxi. xviii. 403 An enterprise proceeding from his owne motife. |
c. ? A (supernatural) prompting or inciting. Obs.
| 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. v. ii, Heau'n..Whose gracious motiues made me still forbeare To be mine owne Reuenger. 1637 Earl of Monmouth tr. Malvezzi's Rom. & Tarquin 235 Many have beleeved, that in man also there are certaine seeds of Divination of future things..: I should beleeve them to bee the motives of our tutelary Angels [etc.]. |
† 3. An argument, means of producing conviction. Obs.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. v. ii. (Rolls) 489 Forto proue that these religiouns ben sectis of perdicioun, he muste take his euydencis and hise motyues in othir place out and fro the seid text of Peter. |
4. a. That which ‘moves’ or induces a person to act in a certain way; a desire, fear, or other emotion, or a consideration of reason, which influences or tends to influence a person's volition; also often applied to a contemplated result or object the desire of which tends to influence volition.
Writers of the 17–18th c. commonly speak of acting on a motive; the usual prep. now is from, though occasionally with or for is employed.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1559 What was þi cause why þou toke a wyf? Was it..for luste, or muk? what was þi motyf? 1586 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 78 Lying undir dangear of horning, or proces of forfaltour, or uthirwayes upoun sum uthir motive, thay durst not compeir. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. viii. §4 Hereof wee haue no commandement either in nature or scripture..yet those motiues there are in both which drawe most effectually our mindes vnto them. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 105 And this (I take it) Is the maine Motiue of our Preparations. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §60 [Felton answered] that the motives thereunto would appear if his hat were found, in which he had..fixed them. 1694 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. §29 (ed. 2) 133 The motive to change, is always some uneasiness... This is the great motive that works on the Mind to put it upon Action. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 211 ¶4 There is no other motive of action that can carry us. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will i. ii. (1762) 5 By Motive, I mean the whole of that which moves, excites, or invites the Mind to Volition. 1796 C. Smith Marchmont III. 147 He married her on the most laudable motives. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos i. xii, Now I have motive to be brave. 1824 Chr. Wordsworth Who wrote Εἰκὼν βασιλική 164, I am compelled to declare, that, from the motives upon which he writes.. his testimony adds very little. 1868 Bain Ment. & Mor. Sci. 346 The Motives, or Ends of action, are our Pleasures and Pains. 1884 F. Temple Relat. Relig. & Sci. iii. (1885) 80 The freedom of the will is not shown in acting without motive, but in choosing between motives. |
† b. A moving or inciting cause. Obs.
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 249 Now the chiefe Motive of these Accidents Is the dire discord of our Elements. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 65 You shall finde no motiues to beget Alexanders Riot, except barren Mountaines..can procure Epicurisme. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 75 He discovered a sail.., which quite altered the motive of his former fears: no monster, said he, has devoured him. |
† 5. A mover, instigator, promoter. Obs.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxiii. xxxvii. 500 Vercellius and Sicilius the motifes and chieftains of that rebellion. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶11 They were the principall motiues of it, and therefore ought least to quarrell it. 1681 Nevile Plato Rediv. 19 He cannot be denied to be a great motive of the Peoples unquietness. |
† 6. A moving limb or organ. (Only in Shakes.)
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 193 My teeth shall teare The slauish motiue of recanting feare. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 57 Her wanton spirites looke out At euery ioynt, and motiue of her body. |
7. a. In Art and Literature: = motif 1, 2. Also in extended use.
| 1851 tr. Kugler's Hand-bk. Paint. 18 The positions and motives in both [are] too conventional. 1851 Eastlake ibid., note, This word..as generally used by the author,..means the principle of action, attitude and composition in a single figure or group; thus it has been observed, that in some antique gems which are defective in execution, the motives are frequently fine. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xxii, A dance..in which every attitude was a fresh motive for a sculptor of the purest school. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. viii. ii. §1 A great composition always has a leading emotional purpose, technically called its motive, to which all its lines and forms have some relation. Undulating lines, for instance, are expressive of action; and would be false in effect if the motive of the picture was one of repose. 1865 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace xxxv. 425 The French, by adopting what is technically termed eight ‘motives’, produce their lace of a finer make and more complex pattern. 1868 C. L. Eastlake Hints Household Taste ix. 201 Some of the table-china is also very good in what may be called the motive of its design. 1889 Academy 25 May 365/2 The motive [of the picture] is of the simplest. 1893 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore VI. 255 The motive that Brer Wolf seeks protection from his pursuers with Brer Rabbit..is akin to the episode in the Roman de Renart. 1928 Daily Express 21 Apr. 6/2 These motives are mounted in various designs on a background of satin. 1930 S. W. Cheney New World Archit. i. 20 The primary ‘motive’ [of New York] is the repeated pier-line, the chief relieving factor the occasional terrace. 1931 A. U. Dilley Oriental Rugs & Carpets plate 16 (caption) Vestibule of the Madrassa (college) Mader-i-Shah (Mother of Shah) Sultan Hussein (1700), Ispahan. Compare ceiling motive with rug medallion. |
b. Mus. = motivo, motif 1 c. leading motive: see leading ppl. a. 1 b.
| 1866 Engel Nat. Mus. ii. 82 Motive is the term which may most properly be applied to the shortest musical idea. 1883 F. Hueffer Wagner (ed. 2) 88 As if to remind him of this limit of his power, the orchestra intones a solemn theme which might be called the ‘law or bond motive’. |
8. attrib. and Comb., as motive-hunter, motive-hunting, motive-pattern; motive-grinder, -millwright, nonce-wds., a laborious searcher after motives; motive-monger, one who ‘traffics’ in motives; so motive-mongering; † motive-wise adv., as a motive of conduct or action.
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. vii, Foolish Wordmonger and *Motive-grinder, who in thy Logic-mill hast an earthly mechanism for the Godlike itself. |
| 1905 Spectator 28 Jan. 141/1 He is..a *motive-hunter, seeking on every side for little justifications for his pride. |
| 1907 Raleigh Shakespeare 180 Regan and Goneril do not go *motive-hunting like Iago. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. iii, *Motive-Mill⁓wrights. |
| 1762 Sterne Tr. Shandy VI. xxxi, My father, who was a great *motive-monger. |
| a 1834 Coleridge Notes & Lect. (1849) I. 233 O what a lesson concerning..the folly of all *motive-mongering, while the individual self remains! |
| 1941 Koestler Scum of Earth 232 No attempt to discriminate, to discover political *motive-patterns. |
| 1674 Allen Danger Enthus. 134 Because Faith is thus *Motive-wise such an Operative Principle of a good and Holy Life. |
Add: [4.] c. Law. The purpose or end which motivates someone to commit an illegal, esp. criminal, act.
| 1792 U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court Penn.) IV. 116 Neither the wildness of the boy's motive, for committing the crimes, nor his youth, can afford a satisfactory answer to the charge. 1842 U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court U.S.) XLI. 343 It has always been allowable..to introduce evidence of other acts.., in order to illustrate his intent or motive in the particular act directly in judgment. 1894 J. S. Mackenzie in Internat. Jrnl. Ethics IV. 232 Why did this man commit a murder? He was carried away by passion... On the other hand..why did Columbus cross the Atlantic? He hoped to discover land... Some writers would use the term motive in both..cases... The motive is not the hope, but the object as hoped. 1906 Corresp. respecting Attack on Brit. Officers at Denshawi 13 in Parl. Papers 1906 (Cd. 3086) CXXXVII. 687 Two days ago three natives knocked a soldier off his donkey and kicked him in the stomach; his injuries are serious... Theft appears to have been the motive. 1936 A. Christie ABC Murders xxxiv. 238 When a man or woman is killed, what are the questions the police ask? Opportunity..Motive. Who benefited by the deceased's death? 1987 A. Brien Lenin ii. 67, I attempted a crime. I exercise my right of defence only to explain my motives. |
▪ II. motive, a.
(ˈməʊtɪv)
Also 6 moitive, motyfe.
[ad. OF. motif or med.L. mōtīv-us (Erigena, c 860), f. L. mōt-, movēre to move: see -ive.
Erigena renders τὸ τῆς ϕύσεως κινητικόν (Pseudo-Dionysius) by naturæ motiva capacitas.]
1. a. That moves or tends to move a person to a particular course of action; that constitutes a motive for action. Now somewhat rare.
| 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) v. vii. 426 The cause motyue of the composycyon of this present boke. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. ix. §1 What we doe against our wills..we are not properly said to do it; because the motiue cause of doing it is not in our selues. Ibid. iv. xi. §12 Shall euery motiue argument vsed in such kinde of conferences be made a rule for others still to conclude the like by? 1654 Z. Coke Logick 9 The Causes motive of men to invent this Art, were first, The defect of mans nature. 1858 Sears Athan. iii. x. 333 Those..whose motive principles are selfish. 1870 J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. x. 469 The Emperor Marcus seems to consider obstinacy as the ultimate motive-cause to which their unnatural conduct was traceable. 1879 R. T. Smith Basil the Great x. 116 He held sacramental doctrine, yet we do not find the sacraments used as motive arguments. |
† b. Powerful to move or incite. Obs.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 43/1 The oration of queene Voadicia..wherein she rippeth up the..shamefull wrongs which their enemies inflicted upon them, with other matters verie motive. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Disc. iii. §8 Generals, even in spiritual things are less perceived and less motive than particulars. |
2. a. Having the quality of initiating movement; productive of or used in the production of physical or mechanical motion; spec. in Physics, etc. motive energy: see energy 6. motive power, the power acting upon matter to move it, moving or impelling power (so also motive force); also, the mechanical energy (as steam, electricity, air, etc.) used to drive machinery.
| 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 44 A Muscle..is construct..w{supt} Nerues, that it might cary with it the moitiue vertue that springeth from the brayne. 1625 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iii. (1635) 48 In the Reasonable soule of man, we haue two faculties.., a motiue, and a directiue power. 1641 Wilkins Math. Magick i. v. (1648) 29 The Nerves serve for the conveyance of the motive faculty from the brain. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 62. 2/1 The absolute motive force of the Muscles. 1835 Whewell in Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. V. 160 That property of a force..which we may call the motive quantity of the force. 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 360 A machine with a motive wheel of about 2½ feet in diameter..to propel a Napier's printing press. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xiv. §114 (1875) 325 When horse-power and man-power were alone employed, the motive agent was not bound up with the tool moved. 1889 G. Findlay Eng. Railway 6 The question of the motive power to be employed was left an open one. 1936 Discovery Nov. 380/1 Motive-power accessories—like electric batteries—are not required. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. (1875) 11 The French Revolution..found..its motive power in the intelligence of men. 1889 Spectator 14 Dec. 845 The usual motive-power of industrial enterprises,—the desire of human beings to grow rich. |
c. Of nerves = motor a. 2.
| 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. Man. iii. ii. 325 These two motive-nerves are so united as to touch one another. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. Introd. Lect. 14 In cases of tic douloureux we divide the sentient and not the motive nerves. |
3. Concerned with or having the function or quality of initiating action.
| 1569 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 684 Bayth the partiis comperand personalie, of thair awin motive willis. 1575 Ibid. II. 451. 1650 Hobbes Hum. Nat. 4 Of the powers of the Mind there be two sorts, Cognitive and Imaginative, or Conceptive and Motive. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby v. ii, Public reputation is a motive power. 1892 N. Smyth Chr. Ethics i. iii. 189 Historical Christianity, on the ethical side of it, is increased divine motive power for man. |
4. Of the limbs: Concerned with the faculty of motion or locomotion. ? Obs.
| 1541 Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. C iv b, The seconde [purpose of the sinews is] to gyue moeuynge to the motyfe or styrynge membres. 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. 58 In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. II. xvii. 93 The motive organs may be divided into two classes, those that are employed by an animal in locomotion, and those that are used for prehension. |
† 5. a. Having the faculty of motion; capable of movement; mobile. Obs.
| 1579–80 North Plutarch, Camillus (1595) 152 Fire.. is the most motiue & quickest substance that is of all naturall things. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 993 Cold is stationarie and heat motive. 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] xxvi. 84 Nature is motiue in the quest of ill. |
b. ? Moving readily, mobile. Obs.
| 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 88 So pure her skin, so motiue to the eie, As it did seeme compos'd of Iuorie. 1621 ― Nat. Embassie 97 Faire in proportion, motiue in her pace. |
▪ III. motive, v.
(ˈməʊtɪv)
[f. motive n.; cf. F. motiver, G. motiviren.]
1. trans. To furnish with a motive or inciting cause; to give or supply a motive to; to be the motive of; also pass., to be prompted by (something) as a motive.
| a 1650 May Satir. Puppy (1657) 86 He carried himself as altogether unsensible of any beating, and demands what motiv'd that mirth. 1815 J. C. Hobhouse Substance Lett. (1816) I. 431 Lord Castlereagh, lest anything..absurd should be wanting to motive the war, reads a forged letter. 1830 W. Taylor Hist. Surv. Germ. Poetry I. 197 The salary was augmented so liberally as to motive his migration. 1874 W. G. Ward Ess. Philos. Theism (1884) I. 258 An act need not be motived by pleasure at all; and yet a very large amount of pleasure may be annexed to its performance. |
2. In pass., of incidents in a drama or work of fiction: To be provided with a motive; to be rendered credible by what is revealed of the character, circumstances, or antecedent history of the persons.
| 1858 Hawthorne Ancestral Footstep (1883) 486 His malice must be motived in some satisfactory way. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Predecess. xi. 478 Where the witch's malice might have been motived and brought into play. |