cause

English

Etymology

• 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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôz, IPA^(key): /kɔːz/,
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɔz/,
• (Canada, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑz/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Homophones: caws, 'cause; cores (non-rhotic dialects)
• Rhymes: -ɔːz

Noun

cause (countable and uncountable, plural causes)

1. (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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , 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.

2. (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.

4. (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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     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 and C 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, 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, 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.”

5. (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.

6. (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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     What counsel give you in this weighty cause?

7. (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

Translations

See also

• effect

Verb

cause (third-person singular simple present causes, present participle causing, simple past and past participle caused)

1. (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, 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.

2. (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.

3. (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

Derived terms

• causation
• cause a stir
• causer

Translations

Conjunction

cause

1. Alternative form of 'cause; because

See also

• cause célèbre

Further reading

• “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

• -sauce, Eacus, sauce

Asturian

Verb

cause

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of causar

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koz/
• Homophones: causent, causes

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French cause, borrowed from Classical Latin causa. Compare chose, an inherited doublet.

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. cause

   Antonym: conséquence

2. (law) case (a legal proceeding)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cause

1. inflection of causer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Derived terms

Further reading

• “cause”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• sauce, sceau

Galician

Verb

cause

1. inflection of causar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Noun

cause f pl

1. plural of causa

Anagrams

• ucase

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French cause.

Noun

cause (plural causes)

1. cause
   • 14^th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue

     He knew the cause of everich maladye

     He knew the cause of every illness

Descendants

• English: cause

Norman

Etymology

From Old French cause, borrowed from Latin causa.

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. (Jersey, law) case

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin causa, whence the inherited chose.

Noun

cause oblique singular, f (oblique plural causes, nominative singular cause, nominative plural causes)

1. 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

• Middle English: cause
  • English: cause
• Middle French: cause
  • French: cause
• Norman: cause

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -awzi, (Portugal) -awzɨ
• Hyphenation: cau‧se

Verb

cause

1. inflection of causar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkause/
• Rhymes: -ause
• Syllabification: cau‧se

Verb

cause

1. inflection of causar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative