causation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin causātiō (“action of causing”), recorded in British sources from the 14th century, from causō (“to bring about, produce”), from Latin causa (“a cause, reason”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In its obsolete sense "excuse" it is partly borrowed from Latin causātiō (“plea, excuse”), used by Aulus Gellius in the 2nd century, from causor (“to plead a cause, give reasons or excuses”).^[2][6] The OED compares Middle French causation, recorded from 1516 or earlier, and Portuguese causação (15th century),^[2] and the Shorter Oxford allows a French source;^[7] Etymonline also takes it as possibly a noun of action from the verb cause.^[3] Johnson derived it from Late Latin causo.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of causing or producing something: 1498, in a Scottish record printed in W. Fraser's Book of Carlaverock.^[2] The ODE and the Shorter Oxford date it to the late 15th century;^[6][7] Merriam-Webster gives 1615,^[4] and Etymonline and Dictionary.com the 1640s.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the act of causing, the word extended to the relation itself between cause and effect, and to the principle that certain effects necessarily follow from certain causes: the OED records this from 1615, in N. Byfield,^[2] and Etymonline from 1739.^[3] A sense "excuse", taken from classical Latin, was used from 1565 to 1662 and is obsolete.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the act or power of causing", quoting Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar Errours.^[8]

Timeline

• 1498 – the action of causing or producing something.^[2]
• 1565 – an excuse (obsolete by 1662).^[2]
• 1615 – the relation of cause and effect.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1739.^[3]
• 1755 – Johnson: the act or power of causing.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of causing something; the production of an effect: the causation of the floods by heavy rain^[9][4][2]
2. The relationship between cause and effect; causality: The report found no evidence of causation between the two trends.^[9][2][4]

Word family

• causational
• causationism
• noncausation

Related words

• cause
• causal
• causality
• causative

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins