cause
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English cause, from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), in Medieval Latin also "a thing". Origin uncertain. See accuse, excuse. Displaced native Middle English sake (“cause, reason”) (from Old English sacu (“cause”)), Middle English andweorc, andwork (“matter, cause”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, thing, cause”)).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôz, IPA(key): /kɔːz/, [kʰo̞z]
- (General American) IPA(key): /kɔz/, [kʰɒz], [kʰɑ̟z] (In accents with the cot-caught merger)
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːz
- Homophones: caws, 'cause; cores (non-rhotic dialects)
- Rhymes: -ɑːz
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.
- They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
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1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- 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 for a state, as of emotion.
- There is no cause for alarm.
- The end of the war was a cause for celebration.
- (countable) A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- God befriend us, as our cause is just.
- (Can we date this quote?) Burke
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
- Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
- I did it not for his cause.
- Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
- (countable, obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause?
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
- (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.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause (third-person singular simple present causes, present participle causing, simple past and past participle caused)
- To set off an event or action.
- The lightning caused thunder.
- 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
- 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.
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2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist[1], 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.
- To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
- His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.
- Bible, Genesis vii.4
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
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1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- 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.
- To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Statistics[edit]
External links[edit]
- cause at OneLook Dictionary Search
- cause in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- cause in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Anagrams[edit]
Asturian[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- first-person singular present subjunctive of causar
- third-person singular present subjunctive of causar
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from classical Latin causa. Compare chose.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
cause f (plural causes)
Derived terms[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- first-person singular present indicative of causer
- third-person singular present indicative of causer
- first-person singular present subjunctive of causer
- third-person singular present subjunctive of causer
- second-person singular imperative of causer
Anagrams[edit]
External links[edit]
- “cause” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Italian[edit]
Noun[edit]
cause f pl
Middle English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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
Norman[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
cause f (plural causes)
Old French[edit]
Noun[edit]
cause f (oblique plural causes, nominative singular cause, nominative plural causes)
- cause
-
1303, 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
- On doit avoir plusieurs entencions, car en curant, on doit bien considerer la cause et la nature de la maladie
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Portuguese[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of causar
- Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present subjunctive of causar
- Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of causar
- Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of causar
Spanish[edit]
Verb[edit]
cause
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Law
- English verbs
- Requests for quotation/Spenser
- English control verbs
- en:Philanthropy
- Asturian non-lemma forms
- Asturian verb forms
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French feminine nouns
- French countable nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian noun plural forms
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman nouns
- Jersey Norman
- nrf:Law
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms
- Spanish forms of verbs ending in -ar