Motif

Motif may refer to:

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 or the reason behind actions
 * Motif (visual arts), a repeated theme or pattern
 * Motif (textile arts), a recurring element or fragment that, when joined together, creates a larger work
 * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions

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

Other uses

 * Motif (widget toolkit), a graphical user interface toolkit used in software development
 * 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
 * Motif (album), a 2008 album by guitarist Steve Howe