cause
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
- From Middle English cause (also with the sense of “a thing”), borrowed from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), borrowed from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), from Proto-Italic *kaussā, which is of unknown origin. Doublet of chose (“(law) a thing; personal property”). See accuse, excuse, recuse, ruse. Displaced native Old English intinga.
- From Middle English causen, Old French causer and Medieval Latin causāre.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôz, IPA(key): /kɔːz/, [kʰoːz̥]
- (General American) IPA(key): /kɔz/, [kʰɒːz̥]
- (Canada, cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈkɑz/
Audio (GA) (file) - Homophones: caws, 'cause; cores (non-rhotic dialects)
- Rhymes: -ɔːz
Noun[edit]
cause (countable and uncountable, plural causes)
- (countable, often with of, typically of adverse results) The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cause
- Antonyms: effect; see also Thesaurus:cause
- They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:
- We thanke you both, yet one but flatters vs,
As well appeareth by the cauſe you come,
Namely, to appeale each other of high treaſon.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […] , the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
- (uncountable, especially with for and a bare noun) Sufficient reason.
- Synonyms: grounds, justification
- There is no cause for alarm.
- The end of the war was a cause for celebration.
- He has no cause to do that.
- (countable) A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:goal
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- God befriend us, as our cause is just.
- 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], 10th edition, London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.
- 1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Rick (Humphrey Bogart):
- I'm not fighting for anything anymore, except myself. I'm the only cause I'm interested in.
- 1999, John McCain, Faith of My Fathers[1], New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 348:
- There is much to regret about America's failure in Vietnam. The reasons are etched in black marble on the Washington Mall. But we had believed the cause that America had asked us to serve in Vietnam was a worthy one, and millions who defended it had done so honorably.
- 2008, Drew Karpyshyn, “Epilogue”, in Mass Effect: Ascension[2], Del Rey Books, →ISBN, page 341:
- "I thought you were loyal to the cause, Paul."
“I was,” Grayson answered. “Then I saw the kind of people who share your vision, and I had a change of heart.”
- (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 7:12:
- I did it not for his cause.
- (countable, obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause?
- (countable, law) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action.
Derived terms[edit]
- because
- by-cause
- causal
- causality
- causative
- cause and effect
- cause celebre
- causeless
- cause of action
- cause of death
- common cause (rhetoric)
- efficient cause
- external cause
- final cause
- first cause
- for cause (law)
- formal cause
- good cause
- hour of cause
- intervening cause
- just cause
- lost cause
- make common cause
- material cause
- no one should be judge in his own cause
- order to show cause
- probable cause
- proximate cause
- rebel without a cause
- root-cause
- root cause
- show cause
- style of cause
- subcause
- superseding cause
- supervening cause
- with cause
- without cause
Translations[edit]
source or reason of an event or action
|
goal, aim, principle
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause (third-person singular simple present causes, present participle causing, simple past and past participle caused)
- (transitive) To set off an event or action.
- The lightning caused thunder.
- 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
- 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist[3], volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):
- An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic […] real kidneys […]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.
- (ditransitive) To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
- His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 7:4:
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.
- (obsolete) To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- He, to shifte their curious request, / Gan causen why she could not come in place.
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of cause
| infinitive | (to) cause | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | past tense | ||
| 1st-person singular | cause | caused | |
| 2nd-person singular | cause, causest† | caused, causedst† | |
| 3rd-person singular | causes, causeth† | caused | |
| plural | cause | ||
| subjunctive | cause | caused | |
| imperative | cause | — | |
| participles | causing | caused | |
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to set off an event or action
|
to produce as a result
|
Conjunction[edit]
cause
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “cause”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “cause”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “cause”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams[edit]
Asturian[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Inherited from Old French cause, borrowed from Classical Latin causa. Compare chose, an inherited doublet.
Noun[edit]
cause f (plural causes)
- cause
- Antonym: conséquence
- (law) case (a legal proceeding)
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb[edit]
cause
- inflection of causer:
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “cause”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams[edit]
Galician[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- inflection of causar:
Italian[edit]
Noun[edit]
cause f pl
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Old French cause.
Noun[edit]
cause (plural causes)
- cause
- 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
- He knew the cause of everich maladye
- He knew the cause of every illness
- He knew the cause of everich maladye
- 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
Descendants[edit]
- English: cause
Norman[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French cause, borrowed from Latin causa.
Noun[edit]
cause f (plural causes)
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Latin causa, whence the inherited chose.
Noun[edit]
cause oblique singular, f (oblique plural causes, nominative singular cause, nominative plural causes)
- cause
- 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 142 of this essay:
- On doit avoir plusieurs entencions, car en curant, on doit bien considerer la cause et la nature de la maladie
- One must have several intentions, because in treating, one must consider the cause and the nature of the disease
Descendants[edit]
Portuguese[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- inflection of causar:
Spanish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- inflection of causar:
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English doublets
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/ɔːz
- Rhymes:English/ɔːz/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Law
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English ditransitive verbs
- English conjunctions
- English control verbs
- en:Philanthropy
- Asturian non-lemma forms
- Asturian verb forms
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- French terms with audio links
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French doublets
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns
- fr:Law
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian noun forms
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Norman terms inherited from Old French
- Norman terms derived from Old French
- Norman terms borrowed from Latin
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman nouns
- Norman feminine nouns
- Jersey Norman
- nrf:Law
- Old French terms borrowed from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French doublets
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns
- Old French terms with quotations
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Portuguese/awzi
- Rhymes:Portuguese/awzi/2 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/awzɨ
- Rhymes:Portuguese/awzɨ/2 syllables
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/ause
- Rhymes:Spanish/ause/2 syllables
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms