motif

IPA: moʊtˈif

A recurring or dominant element; an artistic theme.
(music) A short melodic or lyrical passage that is repeated in several parts of a work.
A decorative figure that is repeated in a design or pattern.
(dressmaking) A decorative appliqué design or figure, as of lace or velvet, used in trimming.
(crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules.
(chess) A basic element of a move in terms of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfilment of a stipulation.
(biochemistry) In a nucleotide or aminoacid sequence, pattern that is widespread and has, or is conjectured to have, a biological significance.

Examples of "motif" in Sentences

A familiar motif is that they operate at the very fringes of perception.
The “new woman” motif is announced in London's description of Grace's efficiency:
If a certain typeface or a certain motif is considered inappropriate because it looks unprofessional, no professional artist/designer would use them.
The nameless gunslinger motif is taken to a very grizzly place as Jonah Hex is shown as a remorseless bounty hunter with a notoriety that instills fear and anger among the folks he meets.
Also note: I doubt this was intentional in the Pledge but the One God to Two Goddesses motif is actually also found as the Second Capitoline Triad, though the choice of goddesses was different.
The novel's central motif comes from the tale of Orpheus, the great musician of Greek mythology, who charmed his way into the underworld and begged the gods with music to bring his wife back to life.
In Romanticism, the ruin motif is expressed and interpreted in various ways; here the literal ruin or monument, there the figurative ruin of the self, and elsewhere still the formalistic ruin of the Romantic fragment poem, with all of its unsettled meaning.