cause
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kôz
ipa: /kɔːz/
ipa: [kʰoːz̥]
ipa: /kɔz/
ipa: [kʰɒːz̥]
ipa: /ˈkɑz/
homophone: caws
homophone: 'cause
homophone: cores (non-rhotic)
rhymes: -ɔːz
Forms: form: causes
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.
Senses: examples: text: They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
antonyms: effect#Noun
qualifier: typically of adverse results
glosses: The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
examples: text: There is no cause for alarm.
text: The end of the war was a cause for celebration.
text: He has no cause to do that.
synonyms: grounds
justification
occasion
glosses: Sufficient reason.
raw_tags: with for and a bare noun
examples: text: God befriend us, as our cause is just.
ref: 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]:
text: The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.
ref: 1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
text: I'm not fighting for anything anymore, except myself. I'm the only cause I'm interested in.
ref: 1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Rick (Humphrey Bogart):
text: 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.
ref: 1999, John McCain, Faith of My Fathers, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 348:
text: "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.”
ref: 2008, Drew Karpyshyn, “Epilogue”, in Mass Effect: Ascension, Del Rey Books, →ISBN, page 341:
synonyms: word: aim
word: ambition
word: aspiration
word: end
word: goal
word: intention
word: object
word: objective
word: purpose
word: success
word: target
word: telos
glosses: A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
examples: text: I did it not for his cause.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 7:12:
glosses: Sake; interest; advantage.
examples: text: What counsel give you in this weighty cause?
ref: 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]:
glosses: Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
topics: law
glosses: 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: word: basis
word: cause
word: genesis
word: germ
word: origin
word: principle
word: reason
word: root
word: source
Hyponyms: word: first cause
word: first mover
word: prime mover
word: primum mobile
word: fountainhead
word: mainspring
word: springhead
word: wellhead
word: wellspring
Derived terms: word: all-cause
word: because
word: by-cause
word: bycause
word: causal
word: causality
word: causative
word: cause and effect
word: cause célèbre
word: cause celebre
word: causeful
word: causeless
word: cause of action
word: cause of death
word: common cause
word: concause
word: countercause
word: efficient cause
word: external cause
word: final cause
word: first cause
topics: law
word: for cause
word: forcause
word: formal cause
word: good cause
word: hour of cause
word: intervening cause
word: just cause
word: lost cause
word: make common cause
word: material cause
word: no one should be judge in his own cause
word: order to show cause
word: probable cause
word: protocause
word: proximate cause
word: rebel without a cause
word: root cause
word: root-cause
word: show cause
word: style of cause
word: subcause
word: superseding cause
word: supervening cause
word: uncause
word: with cause
word: without cause
Related terms: word: effect
word: agency
word: completion
word: finish
word: outcome
word: because
word: because of
word: beginning