motiveness

M3O1T1I1V4E1N1E1S1S1

noun

Ability to move; mobility.

OriginEnglish motive ← Middle English motif ← Late Latin mōtīvum →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounmotiveness (uncountable)
  1. archaicuncountableAbility to move; mobility.

    The lower animals can obviously associate with great readiness: and as to motiveness, they frequently discover a degree of agility to which man can make no pretensions.

    1828, John Ballantyne, An Examination of the Human Mind, page 427

Origin

  1. Anglo-Normanmotif
  2. Middle Frenchmotif
  3. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  5. Proto-Italic*moweō
  6. Latinmoveō
  7. Latinmōtus
  8. Late Latinmōtīvum
  9. Middle Englishmotif
  10. Englishmotive
  11. Englishmotiveness

From motive + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

motiveness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motiveness

MLA

“motiveness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motiveness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motiveness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motiveness.

Source: motiveness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.