cause

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kɔːz/, US /kɑːz/, /kɔːz/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cause, borrowed from Old French cause (“cause, reason; lawsuit”) and directly borrowed from Latin causa (“a cause, reason; a lawsuit”),^[2][3] which is of uncertain origin.^[2][3][4] Klein and Merriam-Webster suggest a link with cūdere (“to strike, beat”).^[4][5] Old French cause was a learned form, and the popular Old French descendant of causa is chose (“thing”).^[3] It is related to because, accuse, excuse, recusant and kickshaw.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A reason, matter or motive, grounds for action: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century cause was also a lawsuit,^[6][7] and by about 1300 a side taken in a dispute, a cause one supports.^[2] The philosophical sense “that which produces an effect” is from the mid-14th century,^[2][6] and “good reason, justification” from the late 14th century.^[2] The verb appears about 1385, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,^[3] from the noun or from Old French causer and Medieval Latin causāre;^[3][2] classical Latin causārī meant “to plead, debate”.^[2] Causative is from about 1412,^[3] causal from the 16th century and causality and causation from the 17th.^[6] Common cause is from the 1620s, and cause célèbre, from French, from 1763.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a reason, motive (Ancrene Riwle).^[3]
• 13th century – a lawsuit.^[6]
• c. 1300 – a side in a dispute.^[2]
• mid-14th century – that which produces an effect.^[2]
• c. 1385 – verb (Chaucer).^[3]
• c. 1412 – causative.^[3]
• 1620s – common cause.^[2]
• 1763 – cause célèbre.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. That which produces an effect or result.
2. A person or thing responsible for an action or result.
3. A reason or ground for action: no cause for alarm.
4. A goal or principle pursued with zeal.
5. The interests of a person or group in a struggle.
6. (law) A lawsuit or case.

Verb

1. To be the cause of; to bring about.
2. To make or compel someone to do something.

Word family

• causable
• causeless
• causer
• causability
• causelessly
• causelessness
• because
• undercause

Related words

• accuse
• excuse
• causal
• causation

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes cause, reason, occasion and antecedent: a cause brings about an effect, a reason explains it, and an occasion lets existing causes come into play.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin