motive

n. something that causes a person to act, cause, incentive, purpose, intention; motif

adj. of motion, of reason or cause; inspiring to action

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. 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"
(synonym) motivation, need
(hypernym) psychological feature
(hyponym) life
(derivation) motivate, actuate, propel, move, prompt, incite
2. a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music
(synonym) motif
(hypernym) theme, melodic theme, musical theme, idea
(hyponym) obbligato, obligato
Adjective
1. causing or able to cause motion; "a motive force"; "motive power"; "motor energy"
(synonym) motive(a), motor
(similar) causative
2. impelling to action; "it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive pleas"; "motivating arguments"
(synonym) motivative(a), motive(a), motivating
(similar) causative

n. motive, something that causes a person to act, cause; motif; theme, subject, topic, main idea

v. motivate, motive