cause

Etymology

From Middle English cause, borrowed from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), in Middle English 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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôz, IPA^(key): /kɔːz/, [kʰɔːz]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɔz/, [kʰɔːz]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

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.

   They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.

   • 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.

2. (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.

3. (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.

4. (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
   • Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12

     I did it not for his cause.

5. (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?

6. (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.

Verb

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

1. 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.

   • 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. 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.

   • 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.

3. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Further reading

• 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

• -sauce, sauce

Verb

cause

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koz/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. cause
2. case (a legal proceeding)

Verb

cause

1. first-person singular present indicative of causer
2. third-person singular present indicative of causer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of causer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of causer
5. second-person singular imperative of causer

Further reading

• “cause” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• sauce, sceau

Noun

cause f pl

1. plural of causa

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

Etymology

From Old French cause, borrowed from Latin causa.

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. (Jersey, law) case

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin causa, whence the inherited chose.

Noun

cause 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

Verb

cause

1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of causar
2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present subjunctive of causar
3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of causar
4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of causar

Verb

cause

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of causar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of causar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of causar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of causar.