motif

Forms

motif m (plural motifs)^[1]

Etymology

It is the old adjective inherited from Middle French motif (“moving, that sets in motion”) (1314, Henri de Mondeville) used as a noun; the adjective is borrowed from Late Latin mōtīvus (“relating to motion, mobile”), formed on the supine of moveō (“to move”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Medieval Latin already used the neuter mōtīvum as a noun meaning “motive, reason” (13th century).^[2][4][7]

The musical sense was borrowed from Italian motivo, of the same origin, and the sense “subject of a painting” is held to be a semantic loan from German Motiv, a term generalized in the arts.^[2][7] Cognate with Old Occitan motiu, Catalan motiu and Spanish motivo.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first found in 1314 in Henri de Mondeville's surgery, of the nerves that produce movement; the noun “reason for acting” appears in Oresme's translation of the Ethics (1370–1372).^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, common in Old and Middle French in the senses “that excites to movement” and “lively, mobile”, declined in the 16th and 17th centuries under the competition of moteur and mobile; the Trévoux dictionary still has it in 1771.^[3][2] The noun kept its first sense “reason for acting”, both general and legal (1377), and later psychological.^[3][2]

It then entered the language of the arts as the main subject of a work, first in music (1703, Brossard), then in painting (1824, Delacroix) and the other arts, and also for an ornament used as a decorative theme.^[2][3][7] The phrase pour le bon motif “with a view to marriage” is recorded from the middle of the 19th century.^[9][7] English took it in 1848 for a recurring theme in a work of art.^[10]

Timeline

• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses the adjective “that sets in motion”.^[2][7]
• 1370–1372 – Oresme uses the noun for a reason for acting.^[2][3]
• 1377 – Gace de la Buigne uses it in a legal sense.^[2][3]
• 1703 – Brossard records the musical sense.^[2][3]
• 1771 – The Trévoux dictionary still records the old adjective.^[2]
• 1824 – Delacroix uses it for the subject of a painting.^[2][3]
• 1848 – English borrows motif.^[10]
• 1874 – Larousse records pour le bon motif.^[7][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A motive, a reason for acting or feeling: sans motif, without reason.^[11] Pour le bon motif (dated, humorous): with a view to marriage.^[11][12]
2. (law) The reasons on which a court bases its judgement: les motifs et le dispositif.^[11] Au motif que: on the grounds that.^[11][1]
3. The subject of a painting.^[2][11] Travailler sur le motif: to paint from life.^[11][2]
4. A pattern or ornament used alone or repeated as a decorative theme: une robe à motifs de fleurs.^[11][1]
5. (music) A phrase or passage notable for its melodic or rhythmic shape, a motif.^[11][7]

Word family

• motiver
• immotivé
• motivé
• motivation

Related words

• moteur
• mobile
• mouvoir
• Latin moveō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 161b
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)