Lexic.us

Definition of Motif

1. Noun. A design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration.

2. Noun. A theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music.

3. Noun. A unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work. "It was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"

Definition of Motif

1. n. Motive.

2. n. In literature and the fine arts, a salient feature or element of a composition or work; esp., the theme, or central or dominant feature; specif. (Music), a motive.

Definition of Motif

1. Noun. A recurring or dominant element; a theme. ¹

2. Noun. (music) A short melodic passage that is repeated in several parts of a work ¹

3. Noun. A decorative figure that is repeated in a design ¹

4. Noun. (crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Motif

1. a recurring thematic element in an artistic work [n -S] : MOTIFIC [adj]

Medical Definition of Motif

1. Recurring characteristic or theme. The smallest group of atoms in a polymer that, when under the influence of a rotation-translation operator, will assemble the rest of the atoms in the chain. (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Motif

mothiest mothing mothlike mothproof mothproofed mothproofer mothproofers mothproofing mothproofs moths

mothy moti motia motier motiest motif (current term) motific motifs motile motile leukocyte

motiles motilin motilities motility motility test motility test medium motion motion-picture camera motion-picture fan motion-picture film

Literary usage of Motif

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1918)
"A predominating motif in such carvings is the complex interlacing lines like wattle- work termed ..."

2. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1909)
"believed to be the earliest lengthy single composition in the Old Testament to Daniel (perhaps the latest composition), the religion of Yahweh is the motif ..."

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