Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word causação
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 1400s spelt causaçom More words from the 15th century
- Borrowed from
- Latin causatio
- Ultimate origin
- Latin causor
Etymology tree
From the same root
Forms
causação f (plural causações).[1] The 15th-century form is causaçom.[2]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Latin causātiō (“pretext, excuse; occasion; illness; accusation”).[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed from causor (“to plead as a reason”) with the suffix -tiō.[5] Michaelis and DELPo analyse the Portuguese word instead as causar with the suffix -ção, as Aulete's original edition did.[6][7][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Houaiss dates causaçom to the 15th century from Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese.[2] Cunha's dictionary records the modern form only from the 20th century.[4]
Semantic evolution
The Latin word meant a plea or excuse, and later an illness; in Medieval Latin it was a complaint, an accusation or a lawsuit.[8][9] Portuguese uses it for the act of causing, and modern dictionaries add the causal process or the set of causes behind something.[2][1][6]
Timeline
- 15th century – first record, spelt causaçom.[2]
- 20th century – Cunha's first record of the modern form.[4]
Meanings
Noun
- The act or result of causing; a cause.[2][3]
- A causal process; the set of causes of something; causation.[1][6]
Related words
- causa
- causar
- causal
- causalidade
References
- ^ a b c d Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. causação
- ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. causação
- ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. causação
- ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. causação
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. causātiō
- ^ a b c Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. causação
- ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. causação
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. causatio
- ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. causatio
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Causação.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/causa%C3%A7%C3%A3o. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·