Link Centre Dictionary

motif

mo·tif

UK/moʊˈtiːf/ US/moʊˈtif/ uncommon

noun

1.

a design that consists of recurring shapes or colors

2.

a theme that is elaborated on in a piece of music

Synonyms
3.

a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work

  • “it was the usual”
  • “theme”
Synonyms

Origin

From French motif (1848), with the meaning of "main idea or theme". Doublet of motive.

Phrases

  • BACH motif
  • network motif

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.