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🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

leitmotiv

Pronunciation / Transliteration: leitmotiv

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Leitmotif/ˈlaɪt.moʊ.tiːf/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Ce compositeur utilise un leitmotiv pour chaque personnage principal."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A short, recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, or idea.

    "The composer uses a distinct horn blast as the hero's leitmotif whenever he enters the scene."
  2. 2

    A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition.

    "Isolation and memory serve as the central leitmotifs of her latest novel."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the German compound word Leitmotiv, combining 'leiten' (to lead) and 'Motiv' (motive). It was popularized in the 19th century by composer Richard Wagner to describe a recurring musical theme associated with a particular person, idea, or situation, and later expanded into literary and film criticism.

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