final cause
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of final cause
First recorded in 1350–1400
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The final cause of death is pending further testing to determine whether the baby was born alive or stillborn, the affidavit said.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 16, 2024
The leading pathologist said the final cause of death was "not clear" due to the numerous injuries that could have led to Alfie's death.
From BBC • Oct. 4, 2023
The next day, Mr. Ketler’s body was taken to the city’s morgue, where the final cause of death was established.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2022
The final cause reflected the purpose of the being, or the reason why the sculpture was made in the first place.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
In Pascal’s account of why the mercury does not descend in the Torricellian tube the formal and material causes are so attenuated as to be uninteresting, and the final cause has disappeared completely.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
