We can also characterize it via a univeral property: every "Weil cohomology theory" $$ H \colon \mathsf{Var}^{\mathrm{op}} \to \mathsf{Vect} $$ factors uniquely through $$ h \colon \mathsf{Var}^{\mathrm{op}} \to \mathsf{Mot} $$ Weil cohomology theories were introduced by Grothendieck and others to help prove the Weil conjectures.