motivus

Forms

mōtīvus (feminine mōtīva, neuter mōtīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mōtus (“moved”) + -īvus,^[1] from moveō (“to move”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author in the TLL is Chalcidius, around 300 AD, who in his commentary on Plato's Timaeus speaks of a body that has a moving force within itself and of the moving power of the soul.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

A glossary renders an anima loco motiva with a Greek phrase for a soul that moves from place to place.^[2] In scholastic Latin it was a technical term for whatever causes motion: the vis motiva that acts in the nerves and muscles, the moving powers of the soul set beside those that perceive.^[5] Thomas Aquinas calls the practical intellect motive, and the will as it were the mover of the intellect.^[6]

From the 13th century it also meant prompting or persuasive, of reasons, letters and arguments,^[5] and the neuter noun motivum meant a motive or reason.^[7] Du Cange records a sermon called moving in the sense of touching, and in a French document of 1369 a man who is quarrelsome and seditious.^[8] English motive came from it through Old French in the late 14th century, and motif from French in 1848.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius, of a moving force in a body.^[2][4]
• 1237 – Grosseteste writes of the moving power of the head.^[5]
• late 14th century – English motive, through Old French.^[3]
• 1848 – English motif, from French.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That moves or causes motion, motive.^[2][5][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) That prompts or persuades.^[5][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Moving, touching.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) Quarrelsome, seditious.^[8]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, neuter) A motive, reason.^[7]

Related words

• mōtiō
• English motive

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre