1. [noun] (obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. [14th-17th c.]
2. [noun] An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action. [from 15th c.]
3. [noun] (obsolete) (rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move. [15th-17th c.]
4. [noun] (legal) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour. [from 18th c.]
5. [noun] (architecture) (fine arts) A motif. [from 19th c.]
6. [noun] (music) A motif; a theme or subject, especially one that is central to the work or often repeated. [from 19th c.]
7. [verb] (transitive) To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
8. [adjective] Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power.
9. [adjective] Relating to motion and/or to its cause
10. [noun] 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'.
11. [noun] A theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music.
12. [noun] A design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration.
13. [adjective] Causing or able to cause motion; 'a motive force'; 'motive power'; 'motor energy'.
14. [adjective] Impelling to action; 'it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function'- Arthur Pap; 'motive pleas'; 'motivating arguments'.
