motif
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
motif /məʊˈtiːf/
▶noun
- 1 a single or recurring image forming a design.
- 2 a distinctive or dominant theme in a work of art.
- 3 a decorative device applied to a garment or textile.
- 4 Biochemistry a distinctive sequence on a protein or DNA, having a three-dimensional structure that allows binding interactions to occur.
– origin C19: from Fr.
'motif' also found in these Oxford entries:
