Motif

n. main idea, predominant subject, recurring theme; unique design (of a piece of art, music, book, etc.)

In computing, Motif refers to both a graphical user interface (GUI) specification and the widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification under the X Window System on Unix and other POSIX-compliant systems. It emerged in the 1980s as Unix workstations were on the rise, as a competitor to the OPEN LOOK GUI. It is now the basic building block of the Common Desktop Environment.
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Motive or motif are terms that turn up in many different forms in literature and other creative works, as well as other fields such as business and law.A motif may be a recurring fragment, theme or pattern in a creative work:Motif (music), a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes.Motif (narrative), any recurring element in a story that has symbolic significance.Motif (visual arts), a recurrent theme or pattern.Motif (chess composition), element of a move in the consideration why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfillment of the problem stipulation.Motif (sports paradigm), an off-field visual representation of on-field Zeitgeist.
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Noun
1. a design that consists of recurring shapes or colors
(hypernym) design, pattern, figure
2. a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music
(synonym) motive
(hypernym) theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea
(hyponym) obbligato, obligato
3. a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"
(synonym) theme
(hypernym) idea, thought
(hyponym) topos

n. motive, reason, cause; figure, pattern; motif, main idea (of a piece of art, music, book, etc.)

n. motif, theme