Motif

Motif may refer to the following:

In creative work:

• Motif (music), a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes
• Motif (narrative), any recurring element in a story that has symbolic significance
• Motif (visual arts), a repeating theme or pattern
• Motif (textile arts), a recurring element or fragment that, when joined together, creates a larger work

In biochemistry:

• Sequence motif, a sequence pattern of nucleotides in a DNA sequence or amino acids in a protein
• Structural motif, a pattern in a protein structure formed by the spatial arrangement of amino acids
• Network motif, patterns (sub-graphs) that recur within a network much more often than expected at random

In computing:

• Motif (widget toolkit), a graphical user interface toolkit used in software development
• Aston Motif, a range of character generators manufactured by Aston Broadcast Systems

In other uses:

• Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfillment of the problem stipulation
• Yamaha Motif, a music workstation

In art, a motif  (pronunciation) (help·info) is an element of a pattern, an image or part of one, or a theme. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works. Ornamental or decorative art can usually be analysed into a number of different elements, which can be called motifs. These may often, as in textile art be repeated many times in patterns. Important examples in Western art include acanthus, egg and dart, and various types of scrolls.

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