cause

[ kawz ]

/ kɔz /

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See synonyms for: cause / caused / causes / causing on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?

the reason or motive for some human action: The good news was a cause for rejoicing.

good or sufficient reason: to complain without cause; to be dismissed for cause.

Law.

a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law.
a case for judicial decision.

any subject of discussion or debate.

a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated: the Socialist cause; the human rights cause.

the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern: support for the cause of the American Indian.

Philosophy.

the end or purpose for which a thing is done or produced.
Aristotelianism. any of the four things necessary for the movement or the coming into being of a thing, namely a material (material cause ), something to act upon it (efficient cause ), a form taken by the movement or development (formal cause ), and a goal or purpose (final cause ).

verb (used with object), caused, caus·ing.

to be the cause of; bring about.

OTHER WORDS FOR cause

9 effect, make, create, produce.

See synonyms for cause on Thesaurus.com

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Idioms about cause

make common cause, to unite in a joint effort; work together for the same end: They made common cause with neighboring countries and succeeded in reducing tariffs.

Origin of cause

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin causa “reason, sake, case”

synonym study for cause

1. Cause, occasion refer to the starting of effects into motion. A cause is an agency, perhaps acting through a long time, or a long-standing situation, that produces an effect: The cause of the quarrel between the two men was jealousy. An occasion is an event that provides an opportunity for the effect to become evident, or perhaps promotes its becoming evident: The occasion was the fact that one man's wages were increased. 3. See reason.

OTHER WORDS FROM cause

caus·a·ble, adjectivecaus·a·bil·i·ty, nouncauseless, adjectivecause·less·ly, adverb

cause·less·ness, nouncauser, nounnon·caus·a·ble, adjectiveself-caused, adjectivesubcause, nounun·caus·a·ble, adjectiveun·der·cause, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH cause

causality, causation, cause

Other definitions for cause (2 of 2)

'cause

[ kawz, kuhz, unstressed kuhz ]

/ kɔz, kʌz, unstressed kəz /

conjunction Informal.

a shortened form of because.

Origin of 'cause

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; aphetic variant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cause in a sentence

A man will not pray when he feels that he is deep down in some pit of self-caused alienation from God.
Expositions of Holy Scripture|Alexander Maclaren
Every substance therefore is self-caused; that is, its essence implies its existence.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 2|Henry Hallam
I take as self-evident the enormous difficulty of self-caused, self-existent matter.
Creation and Its Records|B.H. Baden-Powell
Now, this substance, not being produced by another, is self-caused.
Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers|Charles Bradlaugh, A. Collins, and J. Watts

British Dictionary definitions for cause

cause

/ (kɔːz) /

noun

a person, thing, event, state, or action that produces an effect

grounds for action; motive; justificationshe had good cause to shout like that

the ideals, etc, of a group or movementthe Communist cause

the welfare or interests of a person or group in a disputethey fought for the miners' cause

a matter of widespread concern or importancethe cause of public health

a ground for legal action; matter giving rise to a lawsuit
the lawsuit itself

(in the philosophy of Aristotle) any of four requirements for a thing's coming to be, namely material (material cause), its nature (formal cause), an agent (efficient cause), and a purpose (final cause)

make common cause with to join with (a person, group, etc) for a common objective

verb

(tr) to be the cause of; bring about; precipitate; be the reason for

Derived forms of cause

causable, adjectivecausability, nouncauseless, adjectivecauser, noun

Word Origin for cause

C13: from Latin causa cause, reason, motive

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with cause

cause

In addition to the idioms beginning with cause

cause a commotion
cause raised eyebrows

also see:

lost cause

cause

OTHER WORDS FOR cause

Idioms about cause

Origin of cause

synonym study for cause

OTHER WORDS FROM cause

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH cause

Other definitions for cause (2 of 2)

Origin of 'cause

Words related to cause

How to use cause in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cause

Derived forms of cause

Word Origin for cause

Other Idioms and Phrases with cause