motif

1. 1. A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.
   2. A dominant theme or central idea.
2. Music. A short rhythmic or melodic passage that is repeated or evoked in various parts of a composition.
3. A repeated figure or design in architecture or decoration. See synonyms at figure.

[French, from Old French, motive. See motive.]

noun

An element or a component in a decorative composition: design, device, figure, motive, pattern. See part/whole.

. A short musical idea, melodic, harmonic or rhythmic, or all three. It may be of any size but is generally regarded as the shortest subdivision of a theme or phrase that maintains its identity. See also Leitmotif.

motif [moh‐teef], a situation, incident, idea, image, or character‐type that is found in many different literary works, folktales, or myths; or any element of a work that is elaborated into a more general theme. The fever that purges away a character's false identity is a recurrent motif in Victorian fiction; and in European lyric poetry the ubi sunt motif and the carpe diem motif are commonly found. Where an image, incident, or other element is repeated significantly within a single work, it is more commonly referred to as a leitmotif. See also archetype, stock character, topos.

A principal repeated element in an ornamental design.

In literature, art, or music, a recurring set of words, shapes, colors, or notes. In the poem “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, for example, the word nevermore is a motif appearing at the end of each stanza. Likewise, the first four notes of the Fifth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven are a motif that is developed and reshaped throughout the work.

For proteins a three-dimensional structural unit formed by a particular sequence of amino acids, found in proteins and which is often linked with a particular function. For nucleic acids a particular, usually short, nucleotide sequence that forms a recognition site usually to which other proteins bind.

• structural m's — in proteins, certain specific orderings of secondary structure that may have a functional role and include β-α-β helix-turn-helix, leucine zippers, calcium binding EF hands, zinc fingers and longer orderings that take on a structural domain such as the β-barrel and the immunoglobulin fold.

Tutor's tip: The red and purple flower "motif" (a figure in a design) of the wallpaper was his "motive" (the inner drive that causes one to act) for moving out of the house.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - motiv (kunst/litt.)

Nederlands (Dutch)
motief, grondthema, kantgarnering

Français (French)
n. - motif, thème

Deutsch (German)
n. - Motiv, Applikation

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μουσ., μτφ.) μοτίβο, θέμα, μοτίφ

Italiano (Italian)
motivo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - motivo (m)

Русский (Russian)
лейтмотив

Español (Spanish)
n. - motivo, adorno, tema

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - motiv, garnering

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
主题, 动机, 意念

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 主題, 動機, 意念

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 동기, 주제, 원인

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 主題, 動機, 刺激, 基調

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فكرة عامه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נושא, רעיון, תנע, מוטיב‬

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