English
motivo
Motivo comes from Italian motivo ‘motive’, from Late Latin mōtīvus ‘stirred’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-1‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyeti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweō1‘to move’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveō1‘to move, stir, set in motion’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtus1
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmōtīvus2‘stirred’
- Italianc. 1300–presentmotivo3‘motive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1853motivo3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin motivus
- 2 Wiktionary, Italian motivo
- 3 Wiktionary, English motivo
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1853, Adolf Bernhard Marx, The universal school of music: “By the repetition, transposition, inversion, and combination of different…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)ewh₁-Wiktionary, Latin motivus‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*m(y)owh₁éyetiWiktionary, Latin motivusreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moweōWiktionary, Latin motivus‘to move’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoveōWiktionary, Latin motivus‘to move, stir, set in motion’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmōtusWiktionary, Latin motivus
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmōtīvusWiktionary, Italian motivo‘stirred’
- Italianc. 1300–presentmotivoWiktionary, English motivo‘motive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1853motivoWiktionary, English motivo. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1853, Adolf Bernhard Marx, The universal school of music: “By the repetition, transposition, inversion, and combination of different…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- ‘to move’
through Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh₁éyeti
through Proto-Italic *moweō ‘to move’
move, momentum, automobile, promoter, immobile, emotionless, 86 more
through Latin moveō ‘to move, stir, set in motion’
mobile, auto, remove, promote, emotional, motor, remote, promotion, mobility, emotion, removable, mobilize, mobilization, mobilisation, mobilise, emote, 65 more
through Latin mōtus
automotive, motility, motile, 18 more
through Late Latin mōtīvus ‘stirred’
Today it means
noun A motif.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “motivo”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin motivus, Italian motivo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- / motivo