mothing (mothing)

[ He [the entomologist] need not relax his endeavors day or night. Mothing is night employment. A. S. Packard , Study of Insects, p. 84. moth-mullen (môth'mul"en), n. See mullen . moth-orchid (môthor"kid), n. Same as moth plant . moth-patch (môth pach), n. A term loosely applied to various patches of increased pig IMG:content-0998.png:[blocks in formation] Shak ., T. of the S., iii. 2. 49. motif (F. pron. mō-tēf'), n. 1t. A Middle English form of motive . Freres fele sithes to the folke that the i prechen Meuen motifs meny tymes in so lib les and fallaces, That both lered and lewed of here byleyue douten. Piers Plowman (C), xvii. 230. 2. [F.] A datum, theme, or ground for intellectual action: used as French. The motifs or data which give to the mind its guidance in achieving its more difficult tasks are the spatial series of muscular and tactual sensations which are caused by the motions of the eye for parallel turning, for accommodation, and for convergence in near vision. G. T. Ladd, Physiol. Psychology, p. 463. 3. [F.] In music : ( a ) A figure. (b) A subject or theme, particularly one that recurs often in a dramatic work as a leading subject.