motif

Forms

motif adjective and noun^[1][2]

• motive^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin mōtīvus (“relating to movement, mobile”),^[5][2][6][7] formed on mōtus,^[8] the supine of moveō (“to move”).^[5] The TLFi dates the Late Latin adjective to the 3rd or 4th century, and Medieval Latin also used its neuter mōtīvum as a noun, "motive, reason".^[5][9] Gamillscheg thinks the sense of the noun was helped by movoir "to prompt".^[10]

Old Occitan motiu was a medical term, "that causes movement", in the 14th century.^[7] Körting notes that the Medieval Latin noun took the place of the Latin noun for movement in the sense of motive, giving Italian motivo and Spanish motivo.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Henri de Mondeville's surgery, translated in 1314, where the adjective describes the nerves that serve movement: those coming from the nape are called motis, those from the brain sensitive.^{[12][13][1][5]}

Semantic evolution

The adjective meant "that sets in motion" and then "that prompts, urges":^[14][2] Oresme lists la motive, the power to move from place to place, among the five powers of the soul.^[14] It lasted until the 18th century.^[5]

The noun appears first in England, in 1321, for counsel or advice and for one's own will.^[3] On the Continent it is first a reason for acting, in Oresme's Ethics of 1370–1372, and is used in law by Gace de la Buigne in 1377.^[5][2] The modern French senses in music (1703) and painting (1824) came from Italian motivo and German usage.^[5] The modern word is French motif.^[5]

Timeline

• 1314 – the adjective in Henri de Mondeville's surgery.^[13][5]
• 1321 – the noun in the AND's first citation.^[3]
• 1370–1372 – the noun "reason for acting" in Oresme's Ethics.^[5][2]
• 1377 – in law, in Gace de la Buigne.^[5]
• 1703 – the musical sense, from Italian.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. that serves movement or causes it; motor.^[1][5][15]
2. that prompts or urges to something.^[14]

Noun

1. (Anglo-Norman) counsel, advice.^[3]
2. one's own will or volition.^[3]
3. a reason for acting, a motive.^[5][16]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the noun motif, with the form motive, and first cites it from 1321, for counsel or advice and in a phrase for one's own volition.^[3] Middle English motif, from the Old French noun and Medieval Latin, meant a proposition or argument, a motive, and counsel or advice,^[17] and gave English motive in the late 14th century.^[18]

Descendants

• Middle French motif (→ French motif)^[15][5]
• Middle English motif (borrowed; → English motive)^[17][18]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch, Godefroy, the AND and the DMF all head the word motif.^{[1][14][3][15]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 6:354
2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. motif
3. ^ a b c d e f g Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. motif
4. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 459
7. ^ a b Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3:161
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. motivus
10. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 670
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 6322
12. ^ Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. motif
13. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. HMondB
14. ^ a b c d Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 5:423
15. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. motif
16. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 10:179
17. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
18. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com