causare

Forms

causare (first-person singular present càuso, first-person singular past historic causài, past participle causàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin causor (“to plead a cause; to give as a reason”), formed from causa (“cause; lawsuit”).^[2][3][4][5] Treccani and Devoto also name the later active form, Late Latin causāre.^[6][7] The LEI finds it hard to decide whether the learned word is a Latinism from the verb or was formed again from causa, and Wiktionary takes it as the noun with the verb ending.^[8][1]

The Latin verb lived on in popular form in Old Surselvan cussar, in Old French choser (“to scold, blame”) and in Italo-Romance dialects, where a Florentine form means “to assert, pretend”.^[8][9] The learned form is Middle French causer (about 1270), Catalan causar (14th century), Spanish causar (1495) and Portuguese causar (16th century).^[8] The Latin noun itself is of uncertain origin: Walde and Hofmann linked it with cūdō (“to strike”), taking “a blow” as the first sense of “cause”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Brunetto Latini's Rettorica (about 1260–1261), from Florence.^[11] DELI dates the sense “to bring about, cause” from Dante's Convivio (1304–1308), where Dante says that what is caused by a circular body has in some way a circular being.^[2][5] The LEI also lists a Campanian causare “to contend” from 960.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant “to plead a case” in law, and philosophers used it for producing an effect.^[11] The intransitive “to arise, derive from” is found from Boccaccio's commentary on Dante (1373–1374) to Sarpi (1619).^[8] Machiavelli wrote that a principality is “caused” by the people or by the nobles, and in 1520 he used the verb for “to blame, accuse”.^[13][8]

The French causer “to chat” is a separate verb from the inherited Latin line, and Italian borrowed it as cosare, and the nouns causerie and causeur from it too.^[8] Today causare mostly takes harmful effects as its object.^[14][15]

Timeline

• About 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses causare in the Rettorica.^[11]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses it for “to cause” in the Convivio.^[2][5]
• 1373–1374 – Boccaccio uses the intransitive “to arise from”.^[8]
• 1520 – Machiavelli uses it for “to blame, accuse”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause, bring about, give rise to, mostly something harmful or unpleasant: Il vento ha causato la caduta di molti alberi.^{[4][14][15][16]}
2. (pronominal, uncommon, as causarsi) To arise, come about.^[14][6]

Word family

• causante
• causativo
• causatore
• causazione

Related words

• causa
• cagionare
• accusare
• scusare

Usage notes

The present participle causante survives in causa causante, a cause seen in the act of producing its effect.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 452
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 451
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana