motivo

Forms

motivo m (plural motivi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Late Latin mōtīvus (“moving, mobile”), an adjective recorded in the 4th century in Calcidius and formed from mōtus (“movement”), the past participle of moveō (“to move”).^[2][3][1][4] The adjective, “that moves, that causes motion”, was much used in Italian until the 18th century and then kept only in special languages, where the noun made from it prevailed;^[2][5][6][7] DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and Treccani therefore treat the noun as the adjective used substantively.^[2][5][6][7] Nocentini derives the noun from Medieval Latin motivum (“a condition that impels one to act”), the neuter of the adjective used as a noun.^[8]

The same learned word is French motif and Spanish motivo; in the sense “motive, reason” it took the place of the Latin noun meaning “movement”, which survived in moto.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the noun is in Domenico Cavalca, before 1342, in the sense “reason, cause”.^[2][8] The GDLI quotes him: “Quelle cose che sono da Dio hanno fondamento e motivo di umiltà” (the things that come from God have humility as their ground and motive).^[4] The adjective is older, from the 13th century.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In music the word is recorded before 1729 in Anton Maria Salvini, who compares the openings of sonnets to the musicians' motifs, and Francesco Algarotti (before 1764) uses it for the subject that returns throughout a sonata.^[2][10] In criticism it meant a guiding element of a literary work from Tommaso Stigliani (before 1651), and in the visual arts a decorative element repeated several times from D'Annunzio (1896).^[2] Motivo conduttore (1959) translates German Leitmotiv; the earlier motivo dirigente (1895) followed English leading motive.^[2]

The verb motivare (1634) is formed from the noun, and motivazione, first a lawyers' word (1839–1841), took the psychological sense “motivation” in 1963.^[2][8] French took motif in the musical sense in 1703 as a calque of the Italian, English used motivo in music from 1740, and Greek borrowed it as motívo.^[10][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – The adjective “moving” is recorded.^[5][6]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses the noun for “reason, cause”.^[2]
• Before 1651 – Tommaso Stigliani uses it for an element of a literary work.^[2]
• 1703 – French motif takes the musical sense from Italian.^[10]
• Before 1729 – Anton Maria Salvini uses it in music.^[2]
• 1740 – English motivo is first recorded in music.^[10]
• 1896 – D'Annunzio uses it for a decorative motif.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A reason, cause or motive for doing something: Se n'è andato senza un motivo preciso.^[5][6][11]
2. A source of a feeling or reaction: La tua promozione è motivo di orgoglio per tutti.^[5][6]
3. (law) The subjective reason that leads someone to make a contract or an authority to take a measure.^[11][6][12]
4. (music) A motif, a recognisable melodic or rhythmic element; by extension a tune or a song: un motivo che non esce più dalla testa.^[5][11][7]
5. A recurring theme of a literary, artistic or cinematic work.^[5][11]
6. A decorative element repeated in a work of art, a fabric or a wallpaper; a pattern.^[5][11]

Word family

• motivare
• motivazione
• motivazionale
• motivetto
• immotivato

Related words

• motivato
• motivico
• moto
• muovere
• movente
• Latin mōtīvus
• French motif

Usage notes

Common phrases are per questo motivo “for this reason”, motivo per cui “which is why”, a motivo di “because of” and per nessun motivo “on no account”.^[12][6][5] The old adjective motivo survives only in the legal errore motivo, an error that affected the forming of a party's will.^[6][7]

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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli