Definition of Cause

1. Noun. Events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something. "They are trying to determine the cause of the crash"

Generic synonyms: Inception, Origin, Origination
Specialized synonyms: Antecedent, Aetiology, Etiology, Factor, Producer, Mutagenesis
Derivative terms: Causal

2. Verb. Give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally. "Cause an accident"

3. Noun. A justification for something existing or happening. "They had good reason to rejoice"
Exact synonyms: Grounds, Reason
Generic synonyms: Justification
Derivative terms: Causal

4. Verb. Cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner. "They cause him to write the letter"; "My wife made me buy a new sofa"

5. Noun. A series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end. "Contributed to the war effort"

6. Noun. Any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results.

7. Noun. A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy. "The family brought suit against the landlord"
Exact synonyms: Case, Causa, Lawsuit, Suit
Specialized synonyms: Civil Suit, Class Action, Class-action Suit, Countersuit, Criminal Suit, Moot, Bastardy Proceeding, Paternity Suit
Generic synonyms: Legal Proceeding, Proceeding, Proceedings
Category relationships: Jurisprudence, Law
Derivative terms: Sue

Definition of Cause

1. n. That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist.

2. v. t. To effect as an agent; to produce; to be the occasion of; to bring about; to bring into existence; to make; -- usually followed by an infinitive, sometimes by that with a finite verb.

3. v. i. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.

4. conj. Abbreviation of Because.

Definition of Cause

1. Noun. The source or reason of an event or action ¹

2. Noun. A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends. ¹

3. Verb. To set off an event or action. ¹

4. Verb. To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cause

1. to bring about [v CAUSED, CAUSING, CAUSES]

Medical Definition of Cause

1. That which produces an effect or condition; that by which a morbid change or disease is brought about. Origin: L. Causa (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cause

causalgia
causalgias
causalgic
causalities
causality
causally
causals
causation
causational
causationist
causationists
causations
causative
causatively
causatives
cause (current term)
cause a stir
cause celebre
cause célèbre
cause of action
cause of death
cause to be perceived
cause to sleep
caused
causedness
causee
causees
causeful
causeless
causelessly

Literary usage of Cause

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Anatomy of Melancholy: What it is with All the Kinds, Causes, Symptoms by Robert Burton (1883)
"09; their abuse?, 373 Miseries of man, 82; how thi'V cause melancholy, ISO; common miseries lid; ..."

2. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke (1894)
"From this observation we get the ideas our ideas of cause and effect. ... I. F that has a beginning must have a cause is a true principle of reason, ..."

3. A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to Introduce the Experimental by David ( Hume (1890)
"The same relation, then, of cause and effect, common to all of them. which belongs to ... Why a cause is always Necessary. To begin with the first question ..."

4. War and peace by Leo Tolstoy, Sergej Prokof'ev, Lev Tolstoj, Mira Mendelson-Prokofieva, Valerij Gerg'ev, Graham Vick, Humphrey Burton, Aleksandr Gergalov, Elena Prokina, Gegam Gregoriam, Olga Borodina, Jurij Marusin, Nikolaj Okhotnikov, Vasilij Gerelo, Irina Bogatjeva, (1904)
"cause of the movements of bodies, he expressed the property common to all bodies, from the infinitely great to the infinitely small. ..."

5. The Confessions of S. Augustine: Book I-X. by Augustine (1886)
"And I strained to perceive what I now heard, that freewill was the cause of our doing ill, and Thy just judgment of our suffering ill; but I was not able ..."

6. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (1921)
"Thou peerless, passionate, good cause, Thou stern, remorseless, sweet idea. Deathless throughout the ages, races, lands, After a strange sad war, ..."

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