motivate

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
13
Words With Friends
15
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/ˈməʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ (UK)
See all 5 pronunciations
/ˈməʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ (UK) · /ˈmoʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ (US) · [ˈmoʊ.ɾɪ.veɪt] (US) · /ˈmoʊ.təˌveɪt/ (US) · [ˈmoʊ.ɾəˌveɪt] (US)

Definition of motivate

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (transitive)To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.
    “The weekly staff meeting was meant to motivate employees.”
    “Armor-piercing shells were heading up the shell hoists, but this procedure took a few minutes, allowing the battered American flagship to reply in kind, the gunners somewhat motivated to set new records for the rate of fire as the cruiser raked the larger ship from stem to stern in response.”
See all 2 definitions

verb

  1. (transitive)To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate.
    “The weekly staff meeting was meant to motivate employees.”
    “Armor-piercing shells were heading up the shell hoists, but this procedure took a few minutes, allowing the battered American flagship to reply in kind, the gunners somewhat motivated to set new records for the rate of fire as the cruiser raked the larger ship from stem to stern in response.”
  2. (transitive)To animate; to propel; to cause to take action.
    “He was motivated purely by self-interest.”
    “Steam-motivated pumps are used in manufacturing.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Late Latin moveō Late Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Late Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif…

See full etymology

Etymology tree Anglo-Norman motifder. Middle French motifder. Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁-der. Proto-Italic *moweō Late Latin moveō Late Latin mōtus Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Late Latin -īvus Late Latin mōtīvumder. Middle English motif English motive Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English motivate From motive + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French motiver.

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

A single letter you can add to motivate to make another valid word.

Find your best play with motivate

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes motivate, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.