leitmotif

English

WOTD – 28 July 2007

Alternative forms

leitmotiv
leit-motif

Etymology

From German Leitmotiv (“leading motif”), from leiten (“to lead”) + Motiv (“motif”), originally used to describe Wagnerian opera.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪt.məʊˌtiːf/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪt.moʊˌtif/, nonstandard IPA^(key): /ˈleɪt.moʊˌtif/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

leitmotif (plural leitmotifs)

(music) A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.
A recurring theme.

Translations

melodic theme in an opera

Chinese:
Mandarin: 主題 (zh), 主题 (zh) (zhǔtí)
Finnish: johtoaihe
French: leitmotiv (fr) m
German: Leitmotiv (de) n
Greek: λάιτ μοτίβ (el) n (láit motív)

Icelandic: leiðarstef n
Polish: lejtmotyw (pl) m
Portuguese: leitmotiv m
Russian: лейтмоти́в (ru) m (lejtmotív)
Spanish: leitmotiv m
Swedish: ledmotiv (sv) n

recurring theme

Spanish: leitmotiv m

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