| 单词 | motive |
| 释义 | motive —motiveless, adj. —motivelessly, adv. —motivelessness, n. /moh"tiv/, n., adj., v., motived, motiving. n. 1. something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive. 2. the goal or object of a person's actions: Her motive was revenge. 3. (in art, literature, and music) a motif. adj. 4. causing, or tending to cause, motion. 5. pertaining to motion. 6. prompting to action. 7. constituting a motive or motives. v.t. 8. to motivate. [1325-75; (adj.) ME ( < MF motif) < ML motivus serving to move, equiv. to L mot(us) (ptp. of movere to MOVE) + -ivus -IVE; (n.) ME ( < MF motif) < ML motivum, n. use of neut. of motivus] Syn. 1. motivation, incitement, stimulus, spur; influence, occasion, ground, cause. MOTIVE, INCENTIVE, INDUCEMENT apply to whatever moves one to action. MOTIVE is, literally, something that moves a person; an INDUCEMENT, something that leads a person on; an INCENTIVE, something that inspires a person. MOTIVE is applied mainly to an inner urge that moves or prompts a person to action, though it may also apply to a contemplated result, the desire for which moves the person: His motive was a wish to be helpful. INDUCEMENT is never applied to an inner urge, and seldom to a goal: The pleasure of wielding authority may be an inducement to get ahead. It is used mainly of opportunities offered by the acceptance of certain conditions, whether these are offered by a second person or by the factors of the situation: The salary offered me was a great inducement. INCENTIVE was once used of anything inspiring or stimulating the emotions or imagination: incentives to piety; it has retained of this its emotional connotations, but (rather like INDUCEMENT) is today applied only to something offered as a reward, and offered particularly to stimulate competitive activity: to create incentives for higher achievement. 2. See reason. |
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