Where does “motif” come from?
motif (Old French) comes from Latin mōtivus, from Latin mōtus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.
Ancestry of “motif”, step by step
motif traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin mōtivus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | mōtivus | stirred |
| 2 | Latin | mōtus | moved, stirred, disturbed, having been moved |
| 3 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via Late Latin motivus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | motivus | — |