1. noun
What would his motive be for burning down the cottage?
No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.
2. verb
To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.
3. adjective
a) Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move; as, a motive argument; motive power.
In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions; not only in those of Quadrupeds, but in the thigh-bone, legge, foot-bone, and claws of Birds.
b) Relating to motion and/or to its cause
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