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First Cause

American  

noun

Theology.
  1. God.


first cause British  

noun

  1. a source or cause of something

  2. (often capitals) (esp in philosophy) God considered as the uncaused creator of all beings apart from himself

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of First Cause

First recorded in 1895–1900

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.

See Examples For:

This reverts to the problem of the First Cause, which is the uncaused cause that gave rise to all other causes.

From Scientific American Mar. 4, 2018

But to him, ethical piety cannot depend upon the impersonal First Cause manifested in nature but upon the First Cause manifested in the "will-to-love."

From Time Magazine Archive

Here the First Cause of street cars, steamboats, telephones could be seen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Aquinas reasoned that each effect must have a cause and that an endless chain must proceed back to a primordial First Cause or Prime Mover.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of Causes which increase the Diseases of the People, with general Considerations —— 47 First Cause, the great Care employed to force the Sick to sweat, and the Methods taken for that Purpose —— ib.

From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David) Tissot

The differences in density first cause stars to collide and merge.

From Science Daily May 30, 2024

Somewhat obscurely, Aristotle claims that this first cause is “thought thinking itself.”

From Textbooks Jun. 15, 2022

West Antarctica “is what will first cause big problems for everyone with sea level rise,” he said.

From Washington Post Mar. 26, 2022

Kerry’s first cause after returning from fighting in the Vietnam War was activism for the first Earth Day, in 1970, he says.

From Seattle Times Nov. 7, 2021

But there had always been the lake, which was the town’s first cause of existence, a place for immigrant settlers to put down their loads.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

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