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motif Definition

mo·tif (mō tēf)

noun

  1. a main element, idea, feature, etc.; specif.,
    1. a main theme or subject to be elaborated on or developed, as in a piece of music, a book, etc.
    2. a repeated figure in a design
  2. motive (sense )

Etymology: Fr: see motive

motif Synonyms

motif

n.

subject, main feature, topic, leitmotif; see theme 1, 2.

motif Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • recur: No less than nine recurring motifs can be listed.
  • stylise: Her designs are both inspired by and taken directly from archive representations of the stylized motifs from the 18th and 19th century Moghul Empire.
  • embroider: Great care is taken with each little garment, many of which are beautifully enhanced with hand embroidered motifs.
  • conserve: A series of C -terminal deletions of Rx were made at conserved motifs in the ARC domain.
  • carve: The carved motif immediately above the double doors echoes some of the internal details.
  • bind: This probable zinc binding motif contains four cysteines that may chelate zinc.

Preposition: in

  • fingerprint: Saving all motifs in a fingerprint After compiling a fingerprint, it may be desirable to save each of the motifs within it.
  • sequence: A small motif in a promoter sequence may be all that is needed to dramatically alter the expression of host genes.

Adjective modifier

  • floral: A very pretty white cotton pillow case, with a pretty floral motif to one end, dating to circa 1952.
  • decorative: On some of my work there are simple impressed decorative motifs.
  • repeating: Vocally ' Alexandria ' is something of a ballad, with soft repeating flute motif supplying the backdrop.
  • recurrent: In many of the images, scaffolding, hoardings, bridges, railings and junctions are recurrent motifs.
  • geometric: Here, a much older stylistic tradition of geometric motifs becomes distributed across the landscape in a new pattern.
  • mythic: A single mythical idea can be expressed in many different ways, and can be interwoven with other mythic motifs.

Noun used with modifier

  • folklore: There is a generous use of the Nigerian Igbo folklore motif and unpretending protest poems, all of which make this a wealthy collection.
  • peptide: A link is provided to the SYFPEITHI database of MHC ligands and peptide motifs for more detailed information about anchor residues and binding motifs.
  • dragon: The T-shirt has white trimmings on the arms and on the round neck collar and a dragon motif on the front.
  • leaf: The leaf motif was the connecting theme throughout Arts & Crafts jewelry.
  • sequence: Eponine models consist of a set of DNA weight matrices recognizing specific sequence motifs.
  • revenge: The revenge motif appears to start when Thun and his girlfriend Jane think they have run over a young woman in their car.