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cause

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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
  • 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