motivo

See also: motivó and motivò

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian motivo. Doublet of motif and motive.

Noun

motivo (plural motivos or motivi)

1. (music) A motif.
   • 1853, Adolf Bernhard Marx, The universal school of music, translated by A. H. Wehrhan, page 165:

     By the repetition, transposition, inversion, and combination of different motivos, the extended series of sounds is formed […]

Anagrams

• vomito

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈti.βu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [muˈti.vo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [moˈti.vo]

Verb

motivo

1. first-person singular present indicative of motivar

Esperanto

Etymology

Common Romance, from Latin motivus.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [moˈtivo]
• Rhymes: -ivo
• Hyphenation: mo‧ti‧vo

Noun

motivo (accusative singular motivon, plural motivoj, accusative plural motivojn)

1. reason, ground, motive

Related terms

• motivi

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English motive, French motif, German Motiv, Italian motivo, Russian моти́в (motív), Spanish motivo, all ultimately from Latin mōtivum, accusative singular of mōtivus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈtivo/

Noun

motivo (plural motivi)

1. motive (that which excites to action, determines choice)
2. (music) motif

Derived terms

• motivizar (“to state the motive or grounds of (an opinion, act); (fig.) to justify”)
• plendomotivo (“reason for complaint, grievance”)
• senmotiva (“gratuitous (without proof or motive)”)
  • senmotiva supozajo (“gratuitous supposition”)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈti.vo/
• Rhymes: -ivo
• Hyphenation: mo‧tì‧vo

Etymology 1

From Late Latin mōtīvus.

Noun

motivo m (plural motivi)

1. reason, ground

   Synonym: ragione

2. motive

   Synonym: motivazione

3. (music) motif, melody, aria

   Synonym: melodia

4. pattern, motif
5. room

   Synonym: spazio

6. scope

   Synonyms: scopo, spazio

Related terms

• motivare
• motivato
• motivazione
• motivetto
• motivico

 

Descendants

• → Greek: μοτίβο (motívo)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

motivo

1. first-person singular present indicative of motivare

Further reading

• motivo in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• motivo in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• motivo in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• motivo in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• motivo in sapere.it – De Agostini Editore

Anagrams

• vomito, vomitò

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /moːˈtiː.u̯oː/, [moːˈt̪iːu̯oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /moˈti.vo/, [moˈt̪iːvo]

Adjective

mōtīvō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of mōtīvus

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /moˈt͡ʃi.vu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /moˈt͡ʃi.vu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /moˈt͡ʃi.vo/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /muˈti.vu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /muˈti.vu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /muˈti.bu/ [muˈti.βu]

• Hyphenation: mo‧ti‧vo

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin mōtīvus.

Noun

motivo m (plural motivos)

1. motive (that which incites to action)

   Synonyms: causa, finalidade, intuito, razão

2. (music) motif (short melodic passage that is repeated in several parts of a work)

   Synonym: leitmotiv

Related terms

• motivação
• motivacional
• motivadamente
• motivado
• motivador
• motivante
• motivar

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

motivo

1. first-person singular present indicative of motivar

Further reading

• “motivo” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “motivo” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “motivo” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “motivo” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “motivo” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “motivo” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moˈtibo/ [moˈt̪i.β̞o]
• Rhymes: -ibo
• Syllabification: mo‧ti‧vo

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin motīvus.

Noun

motivo m (plural motivos)

1. reason, ground, motive

   no sé por qué motivo ― I don't know for what reason

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

motivo

1. first-person singular present indicative of motivar

Further reading

• “motivo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014