leitmotif

leit·mo·tif

L l

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [lahyt-moh-teef]
- /ˈlaɪt moʊˌtif/
- /ˈlaɪt.məʊ.tiːf/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [lahyt-moh-teef]
- /ˈlaɪt moʊˌtif/

Definitions of leitmotif word

noun leitmotif a motif or theme associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, or idea. 1
noun leitmotif A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation. 1
noun leitmotif literature, music: recurring theme 1
countable noun leitmotif A leitmotif in something such as a book or film or in a person's life is an idea or an object which occurs again and again. 0
noun leitmotif a recurring short melodic phrase or theme used, esp in Wagnerian music dramas, to suggest a character, thing, etc 0
noun leitmotif an often repeated word, phrase, image, or theme in a literary work 0

See all 10 definitions of leitmotif

Information block about the term

Origin of leitmotif

First appearance:

before 1875

One of the 25% newest English words

1875-80; < German: leading motive

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Leitmotif

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Leitmotif

leitmotif popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 71% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

leitmotif usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for leitmotif

noun leitmotif

thought — Informal. the act or a period of thinking: I want to sit down and give it a good think.
motif — a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.
point — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
text — the main body of matter in a manuscript, book, newspaper, etc., as distinguished from notes, appendixes, headings, illustrations, etc.
question — a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.

All 26 Synonyms of leitmotif