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mo·ti·va·tion

(mō′tə-vāshən)

a. The act or process of motivating: the coach's effective motivation of her players.

b. The state of being motivated; having a desire or willingness to act: students with a high level of motivation.

2. Something that motivates; an inducement, reason, or goal: “If your primary motivation in life is to be moral, you don't become an artist” (Mary Gordon).

mo′ti·vation·al adj.

mo′ti·vation·al·ly adv.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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