- a motif or theme associated throughout a music drama with a particular person, situation, or idea.
- a unifying or dominant motif; a recurrent theme: A leitmotif in science fiction is the evolving relationship between humans and machines.
- a recurring short melodic phrase or theme used, esp in Wagnerian music dramas, to suggest a character, thing, etc
- an often repeated word, phrase, image, or theme in a literary work
