Definitions
1.nounAn idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting.
2.nounAn 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.
3.nounA limb or other bodily organ that can move.
4.nounSomething which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour."No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best."
5.nounA motif.
6.nounA motif; a theme or subject, especially one that is central to the work or often repeated."If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive."
7.verbTo prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
8.adjectiveCausing motion; having power to move, or tending to move"a motive argument"
9.adjectiveRelating to motion and/or to its cause