causalis

Forms

causālis (neuter causāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin causa (“cause”) + -ālis, an adjective from the noun.^[1][2][3][4] Like the noun, it is spelled ⟨caussalis⟩ as well.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It belongs to Late Latin.^[2][5] The earliest dated use is in Arnobius, who refers to a work on the causes of things as Causalia;^[2][6][4] the TLL also records it from the grammarian Palaemon, quoted by Charisius, for conjunctions that give a reason.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It had two uses.^[6][5] In grammar it named the causal conjunctions, such as nam, enim and itaque, which add a reason for what precedes;^[2][3] Donatus on Terence and Jerome use it in this sense.^[5] In philosophy it meant “relating to a cause”, as in Augustine's causalis ratio.^[2][6][5]

Medieval Latin used it for what is original or primordial, of God as the cause of all things, and for what produces or creates.^[7] It passed into English as causal in the 1530s, first in grammar and logic.^[8]

Timeline

• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses the plural Causalia as the title of a work on the causes of things.^[2][6][4]
• c. 310–380 AD – Donatus, commenting on Terence, uses it as a grammatical term.^[5][4]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in a philosophical sense, “relating to a cause”.^[2][4]
• 1530s – English borrows it as causal, in grammar and logic.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to a cause, causal.^{[2][6][9][10]}
2. (grammar) Of conjunctions: giving a reason for what precedes (nam, enim).^[2][3][5]
3. (substantive, neuter plural) causālia: the causes of things, as the title of a work.^[2][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) Original, primordial; producing, creating.^[7]

Related words

• causor
• English causal

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill