Motive

(from Lat. movere, to move or stir). In the law of evidence. That which moves or influences the mind or will; an emotion, passion, or desire which incites or impels to action. In Criminal Evidence. An unlawful desire or emotion, awakened by the perception or contemplation of some external object, or end to be attained by action. This ultimate object is, in fact, the cause or spring of the motive itself, and has sometimes been called the "exterior" or "external" motive, as distinguished from the desire or passion it creates, which is termed the "interior" or "internal" motive.

See 3 Benth. Jud. Ev. 183.

It is, in other words, the inducement, or that which leads or tempts the mind to indulge the criminal desire.

Burrill, Circ. Ev. 283, 284.

MOTWORTHY (Old Eng.) A common councilman. Cowell, voc. "Concionator."