What part of speech is the word motive?

The word "motive" can be several parts of speech, depending on its use in a sentence:

* Noun: This is the most common usage. "What was the motive behind the crime?"

* Adjective: "He had motive to lie about the incident."

* Verb: This is less common, but it can be used to mean "to provide with a motive." "The detective motivated the suspect to confess."

So, without context, it's hard to say exactly which part of speech "motive" is.