different between principle vs motive

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French principe, from Latin pr?ncipium (“beginning, foundation”), from pr?nceps (“first”); see prince.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??ns?p?l/, /?p??ns?p?l/
• Hyphenation: prin?ci?ple
• Homophone: principal

Noun

principle (plural principles)

1. A fundamental assumption or guiding belief.

   • Let us consider ‘my dog is asleep on the floor’ again. Frege thinks that this sentence can be analyzed in various different ways. Instead of treating it as expressing the application of __ is asleep on the floor to my dog, we can think of it as expressing the application of the concept
          my dog is asleep on __
     to the object
          the floor
     (see Frege 1919). Frege recognizes what is now a commonplace in the logical analysis of natural language. We can attribute more than one logical form to a single sentence. Let us call this the principle of multiple analyses. Frege does not claim that the principle always holds, but as we shall see, modern type theory does claim this.

2. A rule used to choose among solutions to a problem.

3. (sometimes pluralized) Moral rule or aspect.

   I don't doubt your principles.

   You are clearly a person of principle.

   It's the principle of the thing; I won't do business with someone I can't trust.

4. (physics) A rule or law of nature, or the basic idea on how the laws of nature are applied.

   Bernoulli's Principle

   The Pauli Exclusion Principle prevents two fermions from occupying the same state.

   The principle of the internal combustion engine

5. A fundamental essence, particularly one producing a given quality.
   • 1845, William Gregory, Outlines of Chemistry

     Cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of senna.

6. (obsolete) A beginning.
7. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of Being Religious

     The soul of man is an active principle.

8. An original faculty or endowment.
   • 1828, Dugal Stewart, The Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man

     those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication either of enjoyment or suffering

Usage notes

• Principle ("moral rule"), as a noun, is often confused with principal, which can be an adjective ("most important") or a noun ("school principal"). A memory aid to avoid this confusion is: "The principal alphabetic principle places A before E".

Synonyms

• (moral rule or aspect): tenet

Derived terms

Related terms

• prince
• principal
• principality

Translations

Verb

principle (third-person singular simple present principles, present participle principling, simple past and past participle principled)

1. (transitive) To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet or rule of conduct.

   • Let an enthusiast be principled that he or his teacher is inspired.

Further reading

• principle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• principle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From Middle English motif, from Anglo-Norman motif, Middle French motif, and their source, Late Latin motivum (“motive, moving cause”), neuter of motivus (“serving to move”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??t?v/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?mo?t?v/

Noun

motive (plural motives)

1. (obsolete) An idea or communication that makes one want to act, especially from spiritual sources; a divine prompting. [14th-17th c.]
2. An incentive to act in a particular way; a reason or emotion that makes one want to do something; anything that prompts a choice of action. [from 15th c.]
   • 1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano:

     Many of them at first seemed kind to him, but it turned out their motives were not entirely altruistic.

   Synonym: motivation

3. (obsolete, rare) A limb or other bodily organ that can move. [15th-17th c.]
4. (law) Something which causes someone to want to commit a crime; a reason for criminal behaviour. [from 18th c.]
5. (architecture, fine arts) A motif. [from 19th c.]
6. (music) A motif; a theme or subject, especially one that is central to the work or often repeated. [from 19th c.]

Synonyms

• (creative works) motif

Related terms

Translations

Verb

motive (third-person singular simple present motives, present participle motiving, simple past and past participle motived)

1. (transitive) To prompt or incite by a motive or motives; to move.

   Synonym: motivate

Translations

Adjective

motive (not comparable)

1. Causing motion; having power to move, or tending to move
   • 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:

     In the motive parts of animals may be discovered mutuall proportions; not only in those of Quadrupeds, but in the thigh-bone, legge, foot-bone, and claws of Birds.

   Synonym: moving

2. Relating to motion and/or to its cause

   Synonym: motional

Translations

Further reading

• motive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• motive in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• motive at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• evomit, move it

French

Verb

motive

1. first-person singular present indicative of motiver
2. third-person singular present indicative of motiver
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of motiver
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of motiver
5. second-person singular imperative of motiver

Latin

Adjective

m?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of m?t?vus

Portuguese

Verb

motive

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of motivar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of motivar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of motivar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of motivar

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mo?tive]

Noun

motive

1. plural of motiv

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

motive (Cyrillic spelling ??????)

1. accusative plural of motiv
2. vocative singular of motiv

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mo?tibe/, [mo?t?i.??e]

Verb

motive

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of motivar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of motivar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of motivar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of motivar.