Motive

How to spell motive

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce motive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does motive mean?

1. nounA reason or inner drive that causes someone to act in a particular way.
2. adjectiveProducing or relating to movement or action.

Motive in a sentence

• noun

  The detective struggled to establish a clear motive for the burglary.

• adjective

  The steam engine supplied the motive power for the whole factory.

• noun

  Profit was the obvious motive behind the takeover bid.

• adjective

  Electricity is now the main motive force driving the rail network.

Where does motive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb movere, meaning 'to move', from which came the Late Latin adjective motivus, 'serving to move' or 'causing motion'. English borrowed it through Old French motif in the late 1300s, at first describing something that causes movement. From the idea of a force that sets the body in motion grew the figurative sense of an inner force that sets a person in action, that is, the reason behind a deed. The same movere root quietly powers a whole family of English words, including motion, motor, emotion, and promote, which can help fix the 'mot' spelling in mind. The everyday spelling trap is simply the unstressed ending: it is -ive, not -iv or -ife, echoing relatives like active and native.

How the word is built

• mot- (from Latin movere: to move)
• -ive (adjective/noun suffix)