motions

Noun

motion (countable and uncountable, plural motions)

1. A change whereby something goes from one place to another; a state of progression from one place to another; a change of position with respect to time.
   • This is the great wheel to which the clock owes its motion.1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   move, movement

   Antonyms:

   rest, stasis

2. (countable) A parliamentary action to propose something. A similar procedure in any official or business meeting.
   • The motion to amend is now open for discussion.
3. (obsolete) An entertainment or show, especially a puppet show.
   • when God gave him reason, he gave him freedom to choose, for reason is but choosing; he had bin else a meer artificiall Adam, such an Adam as he is in the motions.1644, John Milton, Areopagitica
4. from κίνησις (kinesis); any change. Traditionally of four types: generation and corruption, alteration, augmentation and diminution, and change of place.
   • I say, it is no uneven jot, to pass from the more faint and obscure examples of Spermatical life to the more considerable effects of general Motion in Minerals, Metalls, and sundry Meteors, whose easie and rude shapes may have no need of any Principle of Life, or Spermatical form distinct from the...1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 53
5. Movement of the mind, desires, or passions; mental act, or impulse to any action; internal activity.
   • Let a good man obey every good motion rising in his heart, knowing that every such motion proceeds from God.1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London
6. A formal request, oral or written, made to a judge or court of law to obtain an official court ruling or order for a legal action to be taken by, or on behalf of, the movant.

See all 15 meanings of motion