/kɔːz/, [kʰoːz̥], /kɔz/
Origin* 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.
- countable, often, with-ofThe 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.”
“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.”
“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 seeme”
- especially, uncountableSufficient reason.
“There is no cause for alarm.”
“The end of the war was a cause for celebration.”
“He has no cause to do that.”
- countableA goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
“God befriend us, as our cause is just.”
“The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.”
“I'm not fighting for anything anymore, except myself. I'm the only cause I'm interested in.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableSake; interest; advantage.
“I did it not for his cause.”
- countable, obsoleteAny subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
“What counsel give you in this weighty cause?”
- countableA 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.
- transitiveTo set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.
“The lightning caused thunder.”
“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”
“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 in”
- ditransitiveTo actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
“His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.”
“I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.”
“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 t”
- obsoleteTo assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
“He, to shifte their curious request, / Gan causen why she could not come in place.”
Formscauses(plural) · causes(present, singular, third-person) · causing(participle, present) · caused(participle, past) · caused(past) · cause(infinitive) · cause(first-person, present, singular) · caused(first-person, past, singular) · cause(present, second-person, singular) · causest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · caused(past, second-person, singular) · causedst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · causeth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · caused(past, singular, third-person) · cause(plural, present) · caused(past, plural) · cause(present, subjunctive) · caused(past, subjunctive) · cause(imperative, present) · -(imperative, past)