Link Centre Dictionary

cause

UK/kɔːz/ US/kʰo̞ːz̥/ very common
verb (2) noun (5)

verb

1.

give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally

  • “cause a commotion”
  • “make a stir”
  • “cause an accident”
Synonyms
2.

cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner

  • “The ads induced me to buy a VCR”
  • “My children finally got me to buy a computer”
  • “My wife made me buy a new sofa”
Synonyms

noun

1.

events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something

  • “they are trying to determine the cause of the crash”
2.

a justification for something existing or happening

  • “he had no cause to complain”
  • “they had good reason to rejoice”
Synonyms
3.

a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end

  • “he supported populist campaigns”
  • “they worked in the cause of world peace”
  • “the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant”
  • “the movement to end slavery”
  • “contributed to the war effort”
Synonyms
4.

any entity that causes events to happen

Synonyms
5.

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”
Synonyms

Origin

* From Middle English cause (also with the sense of “a thing”), borrowed from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), borrowed from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), from Proto-Italic *kaussā, which is of unknown origin. Doublet of chose (“(law) a thing; personal property”). See accuse, excuse, recuse, ruse. Displaced native Old English intinga. * From Middle English causen, Old French causer and Medieval Latin causāre.

Phrases

  • cause a stir
  • cause and effect
  • cause celebre
  • cause of action
  • cause of death
  • common cause
  • efficient cause
  • external cause

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.