causo

Forms

causō (present infinitive causāre, perfect active causāvī, supine causātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin causa (“cause; lawsuit”) + -ō, an active verb beside the classical deponent causor, which is formed from the same noun.^[2][3] The TLL and the MLW treat its forms together with those of the deponent, and the Hungarian medieval dictionary heads them both under one entry.^[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first active example of the sense “to cause” is in Gennadius' work on church doctrine: to believe that foods are evil or cause evils to those who eat them is not Christian.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Martin of Braga uses the active for bringing a complaint against someone who did harm by force, a sense of the deponent,^[2] and Boethius uses the participle causātum for that which is caused.^[2]

The sense “to cause” became common in Medieval Latin, above all in scholastic philosophy.^[1][6][7] Albertus Magnus uses it of causes and of what arises from them,^[1] and the Carmina Burana call on the tongue to sing of causes and of the thing caused.^[1] Grosseteste writes that the cause of good is better than what it causes,^[6] and Ockham of universal causes from which countless effects are caused.^[6] In medicine William of Saliceto writes of worms that cause deafness,^[1] and records speak of excesses that cause dangers or of injuries caused to plaintiffs.^[6][4] With an infinitive it meant “to cause to be done”: an Oxford record of 1448 complains that fish retailers cause fish to be sold at more than double the price.^[6] The active also kept the senses of the deponent, “to allege as a reason, complain, accuse, go to law”.^[1][4]

Timeline

• end of the 5th century AD – Gennadius uses it in the sense “to cause”.^[2][5]
• 12th/13th century – The Carmina Burana use causātum for the thing caused.^[1][5]
• 1253 – A letter of Grosseteste opposes the cause to what it causes.^[6]
• 1275 – William of Saliceto writes of worms that cause deafness.^[1][5]
• 1299 – A Hungarian charter uses it of causing troubles.^[4]
• first half of the 14th century – Ockham writes of effects caused by universal causes.^[6][5]
• 1448 – An Oxford record uses it with an infinitive.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) To cause, bring about, occasion.^{[2][1][6][7][4]}
2. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) To be the efficient cause;^[1][4] (passive) to arise, result (from).^[1][4]
3. (Medieval Latin, with infinitive) To cause (something) to be done.^[6]
4. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) As the deponent: to allege as a reason; to complain, accuse; to go to law.^[2][1][4]

Related words

• causa
• causor

Usage notes

The perfect participle used as a noun, causātum, means “that which is caused, an effect”.^[2][1][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson