motif

[moh-teef]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR motif ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.

a distinctive and recurring form, shape, figure, etc., in a design, as in a painting or on wallpaper.

a dominant idea or feature: the profit motif of free enterprise.

Origin of motif

From French, dating back to 1840–50; see origin at motive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for motif

pattern, concept, logo, subject, design, idea, structure, notion

Examples from the Web for motif

Contemporary Examples of motif

My understanding is that this artwork came first and was soon replaced with the “Sambo as a baby genie” motif.
Pancakes and Pickaninnies: The Saga of ‘Sambo’s,’ The ‘Racist’ Restaurant Chain America Once Loved
Andrew Romano
June 30, 2014
This motif has been a classic of anti-modernism for two centuries in Europe.
Sorry, Naysayers, But America Isn’t Over Yet
James Kirchick
November 22, 2013

Historical Examples of motif

I thought that you of all people could work out that motif adequately.
The Spinner's Book of Fiction
Various
The motif of the work is most beautifully and pathetically represented.
Fair Italy, the Riviera and Monte Carlo
W. Cope Devereux
It complimentarily introduces a hint or two of Wagner's Grail motif.
Contemporary American Composers
Rupert Hughes
We have then to allow for the growth of a mythology with the twelve signs as its motif.
The Astronomy of the Bible
E. Walter Maunder
Boudins characteristic was not of colour alone, but of motif as well.
Rambles in Normandy
Francis Miltoun

British Dictionary definitions for motif

motif

noun

a distinctive idea, esp a theme elaborated on in a piece of music, literature, etc

Also: motive a recurring form or shape in a design or pattern

a single added piece of decoration, such as a symbol or name on a jumper, sweatshirt, etc

Word Origin for motif

C19: from French. See motive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for motif

"theme, predominant feature," 1848, from French motif "dominant idea, theme" (see motive).

motif in Culture

motif

[(moh-teef)]

In literature, art, or music, a recurring set of words, shapes, colors, or notes. In the poem “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, for example, the word nevermore is a motif appearing at the end of each stanza. Likewise, the first four notes of the Fifth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven are a motif that is developed and reshaped throughout the work.