[W/K] :: Motive

  Motive \Mo"tive\, a.
     Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as,
     a motive argument; motive power. "Motive faculty." --Bp.
     Wilkins.
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     Motive power (Mach.), a natural agent, as water, steam,
        wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to
        machinery; a motor; a mover.
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  Motive \Mo"tive\, n. [F. motif, LL. motivum, from motivus
     moving, fr. L. movere, motum, to move. See Move.]
     1. That which moves; a mover. [Obs.] --Shak.
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     2. That which incites to action; anything prompting or
        exciting to choise, or moving the will; cause; reason;
        inducement; object; motivation[2].
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              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.
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     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.]
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     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.
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     Syn: Incentive; incitement; inducement; reason; spur;
          stimulus; cause.
  
     Usage: 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.
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  Motive \Mo"tive\, v. t.
     To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
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  motive
       adj 1: causing or able to cause motion; "a motive force"; "motive
              power"; "motor energy" [syn: motive(a), motor]
       2: impelling to action; "it may well be that ethical language
          has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive
          pleas"; "motivating arguments" [syn: motivative(a), motive(a),
           motivating]
       n 1: 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; "we did
            not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best
            of motives" [syn: motivation, need]
       2: a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music [syn: motif]

  135 Moby Thesaurus words for "motive":
     activating, active, actuating, aim, ambition, angle, animating,
     animus, antecedent, argument, aspiration, attraction, basis,
     burden, case, causal, causative, cause, chapter, compelling,
     concern, consideration, counsel, desideration, desideratum, design,
     desire, determinant, determination, device, directive, driving,
     effect, emotion, end, enticement, essence, feeling, figure,
     fixed purpose, focus of attention, focus of interest, function,
     gist, goad, goal, grounds, head, heading, idea, impellent,
     impelling, impulsive, in motion, incentive, incitement, inducement,
     inducive, influence, intendment, intent, intention, issue, kinetic,
     leitmotiv, living issue, lure, main point, matter, matter in hand,
     meaning, meat, mind, mobile, motif, motile, motivating,
     motivating force, motivation, motivational, motor, moving, nisus,
     object, objective, operative, passion, pattern, phrase, plan,
     point, point at issue, point in question, pressing, problem, prod,
     project, propellant, propelling, proposal, propulsive, propulsory,
     prospectus, pulsive, purpose, pushing, question, rationale, reason,
     resolution, resolve, rubric, sake, shoving, spring, spur,
     stimulation, stimulus, stirring, striving, study, subject,
     subject matter, subject of thought, substance, text, theme,
     thrusting, topic, transitional, traveling, urge, urgent, view,
     will
  
  

  MOTIVE. The inducement, cause or reason why a thing is done.
       2. When there is such a mistake in the motive, that had the truth been 
  known, the contract would pot have been made, it is generally void., For 
  example, if a man should, after the death of Titius, of which he was 
  ignorant, insure his life, the error of the motive would avoid the contract. 
  Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. liv. 3, c. 2, art. 1. Or, if Titius should sell to 
  Livius his horse, which both parties supposed to be living at some distance 
  from the place where the contract was made, when in fact, the horse was then 
  dead, the contract would be void. Poth. Vente, n. 4; 2 Kent, Com. 367. When 
  the contract is entered into under circumstances of clear mistake or 
  surprise, it will not be enforced. See the following authorities on this 
  subject. 1 Russ. & M. 527; 1 Ves. jr. 221; 4 Price, 135; 1 Ves. jr. 210; 
  Atkinson on Titl. 144. Vide Cause; Consideration. 
       3. The motive of prosecutions is frequently an object of inquiry, 
  particularly when the prosecutor is a witness, and in his case, as that of 
  any other witness, when the motion is ascertained to be bad, as a desire of 
  revenge for a real or supposed injury, the credibility of the witness will 
  be much weakened, though this will not alone render him incompetent. See 
  Evidence; Witness.