Cause, n.
Etymology: [F. cause, fr. L. causa. Cf. Cause, v., Kickshaw.]
1. That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist. Cause is substance exerting its power into act, to make one thing begin to be. Locke.
2. That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground; reason; motive; as, cause for rejoicing.
3. Sake; interest; advantage. [Obs.] I did it not for his cause. 2 Cor. vii. 12.
4. (Law)
4 more senses
A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action.
5. Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question; affair in general. What counsel give you in this weighty cause! Shak.
6. The side of a question, which is espoused, advocated, and upheld by a person or party; a principle which is advocated; that which a person or party seeks to attain. God befriend us, as our cause is just. Shak. The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause. Burke. Efficient cause, the agent or force that produces a change or redult. -- Final cause, the end, design, or object, for which anything is done. -- Formal cause, the elements of a conception which make the conception or the thing conceived to be what it is; or the idea viewed as a formative principle and coöperating with the matter. -- Material cause, that of which anything is made. -- Proximate cause. See under Proximate. -- To make common cause with, to join with in purposes and aims. Macaulay.
Syn. -- Origin; source; mainspring; motive; reason; incitement; inducement; purpose; object; suit; action.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Cause, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caused; p. pr. & v. n. Causing.]
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. I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days. Gen. vii. 4. Cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans. Col. iv. 16.
Syn. -- To create; produce; beget; effect; occasion; originate; induce; bring about.
Cause, v. i.
To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse. [Obs.] Spenser.
Cause, conj.
Abbreviation of Because. B. Jonson.
Shades of meaning
The efficient cause, that which makes anything to be or be done, is the common meaning of the word, as in the saying "There is no effect without a cause." Every man instinctively recognizes himself acting through will as the cause of his own actions. The Creator is the Great First Cause of all things. A condition is something that necessarily precedes a result, but does not produce it. An antecedent simply precedes a result, with or without any agency in producing it; as, Monday is the invariable antecedent of Tuesday, but not the cause of it. The direct antonym of cause is effect, while that of antecedent is consequent. An occasion is some event which brings a cause into action at a particular moment; gravitation and heat are the causes of an avalanche; the steep incline of the mountain-side is a necessary condition, and the shout of the traveler may be the occasion of its fall. Causality is the doctrine or principle of causes, causation the action or working of causes. Compare design; reason.
Prepositions
The cause of the disaster; cause for interference.