cause French · revision 17369

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1120, Cambridge Psalter (fere la cause de)|origins=la causa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /koz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cause''' ''f'' (plural causes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|causa|t=reason, motive; lawsuit, case]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 542a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word is of unknown origin, perhaps pre-Latin or borrowed; the sense “motive” seems older than the legal sense “interest of a party, case”, and in law it was modelled on [[grc|αἰτία|tr=aitía]].^(DHLF 1992) Often joined with “res” “matter”, “causa” gradually came to mean “thing” itself, whence the inherited doublet [[chose]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) The same word is behind [[accuser]], [[excuser]] and [[récuser]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1120 in the Cambridge Psalter, in ''fere la cause de'' “to take up someone's case, do them justice”; about 1165–1170 Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for a lawsuit.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The legal sense gave many phrases: ''être en cause'' and ''mettre en cause'' (1718), ''donner gain de cause'' (1796–1797), ''en désespoir de cause'' (about 1820) and ''hors de cause''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) After Latin “a person's interests”, it came to mean a cause one supports (''Pathelin'', 1465), with ''cause perdue'' (late 15th century), ''prendre fait et cause'', ''faire cause commune'' (1787) and ''les besoins de la cause''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The sense “motive, reason” is a Latinism of about 1170, with ''être cause de'' (1174), ''à cause de'' (1348) and ''pour cause de'' (1803); ''à cause que'' “because”, replaced by ''parce que'' in Europe, survives in Canada.^(DHLF 1992) The philosophical “that which produces an effect” is in Oresme (about 1370), and ''cause efficiente'' from 1541.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The verb [[causer]] “to cause” dates from about 1271.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Fere la cause de'' in the Cambridge Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * 1165–1170 – “Lawsuit”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – “Reason, motive”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1348 – ''À cause de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1370 – Philosophical cause, in Oresme.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1465 – “Someone's interests”, in ''Pathelin''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Mettre en cause'', in the Académie dictionary.^(TLFi)

+ * 1787 – ''Faire cause commune'', in Mme de Staël.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cause]], reason: ''la cause de l'accident'', ''à cause de'': because of.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' That which produces an effect: ''cause première'', ''cause finale''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' A [[m|en|case]], [[m|en|lawsuit]]: ''plaider une cause'', ''en cause'': at issue.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A cause one supports: ''une cause perdue'', ''faire cause commune''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Et pour cause'': and with good reason, ''en connaissance de cause'': knowingly.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[causer]]

+ * [[causal]]

+ * [[causalité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chose]]

+ * [[accuser]]

+ * [[excuser]]

+ * [[récuser]]

+ * [[la|causa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}