motive

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

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

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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

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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