The story
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latindē-
- Englishde-
- Anglo-Normanmotif
- Middle Frenchmotif
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
- Proto-Italic*moweō
- Latinmoveō
- Latinmōtus
- Late Latinmōtīvum
- Middle Englishmotif
- Englishmotive
- Englishmotivation
- English todaydemotivation
From de- + motivation.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.