motivo

Forms

motivo m (plural motivos)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling motyvo in the 15th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin mōtīvus (“relating to movement, moving”), an adjective that Medieval Latin already used as a noun, mōtīvum (“motive, reason”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is formed from mōtus (“movement”) and the suffix -īvus,^[1] from the supine of moveō (“to move”).^[2][5]

The musical sense came later, Houaiss says from French motif (in that sense in 1703) or from Italian motivo (before 1729).^[2][6][7] Nascentes adds the influence of German Leitmotiv.^[4] The same Late Latin word gave Spanish motivo.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to the 12th century, after Machado.^[2] Barbosa (1611) and Pereira (1697) gloss the noun with Latin causa "cause" and stimulus "spur".^[9][10] Bluteau (1712) enters it only as an adjective, "that causes movement", with the quotation O azougue tem faculdade motiva "quicksilver has the power to move".^[11]

Semantic evolution

The adjective "that moves, that causes" is dated to 1642 and survives in technical use.^[2][5][12] The noun "cause, reason" became the usual word: Folqman (1755) has os motivos, que me induzírão a isto "the reasons that led me to this", and Morais (1813) defines it as the cause or reason that moves someone.^[13][14] Law took it for the grounds stated in a decision and the motive of a crime.^[2][5]

In the arts it came to mean the theme or ornament repeated in a work, and in music a short melodic idea: Eça de Queirós, quoted by Aurélio, writes in O Primo Basílio tocou motivos do Barba Azul "played tunes from Bluebeard".^[2][15] Motivo condutor renders the German Leitmotiv.^[15][2]

Timeline

• 12th century – Houaiss's first date, taken from Machado; the record itself is not quoted.^[2]
• 15th century – the spelling motyvo.^[2]
• 1600 – motivo in a private letter.^[16]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses it causa.^[9]
• 1642 – first record of the adjective.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau enters only the adjective.^[11]
• 1755 – Folqman has os motivos “the reasons”.^[13]
• 1813 – Morais enters the noun, “cause, reason”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cause or reason, what explains something: Ninguém sabe o motivo da sua partida.^[2][15][1]
2. (law) The moral or material cause of a crime; the grounds set out in a judicial or administrative decision.^[2][5]
3. An aim or intention; what drives a person to act; motivação, incentive.^[2][15]
4. (art) A motif: a design, theme or ornament that recurs in a work and sets its pattern; the subject of a composition.^[2][5]
5. (music) A short melodic, harmonic or rhythmic idea that runs through a composition.^[2][15][1]
6. (literature) The smallest unit of the plot of a narrative or drama.^[17]

Adjective

1. That moves or causes movement; motor.^[2][15]
2. That causes or determines something.^[2][18]

Word family

• motivar
• motivação
• motivado
• motivador
• motivacional

Related words

• mover
• motor
• Latin moveō
• French motif

Usage notes

Motivo de força maior is a compelling reason that overrides everything else.^[2][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. motivo
3. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. motivus
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. motivo
5. ^ a b c d e Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. motivo
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. motif
7. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. motivo
8. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. motivo
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. motivo
10. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. motivo
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. motivo
12. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. motivo
13. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. motivo
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 323
15. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. motivo
16. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. motivo
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6340
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. motivo