cause

n.

1. 1. The producer of an effect, result, or consequence.
   2. The one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result.
2. A basis for an action or response; a reason: The doctor's report gave no cause for alarm.
3. A goal or principle served with dedication and zeal: "the cause of freedom versus tyranny" (Hannah Arendt).
4. The interests of a person or group engaged in a struggle: "The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind" (Thomas Paine).
5. Law.
   1. A ground for legal action.
   2. A lawsuit.
6. A subject under debate or discussion.

tr.v., caused, caus·ing, caus·es.

1. To be the cause of or reason for; result in.
2. To bring about or compel by authority or force: The moderator invoked a rule causing the debate to be ended.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin causa, reason, purpose.]

causable caus'a·ble adj.
causeless cause'less adj.
causer caus'er n.

SYNONYMS   cause, reason, occasion, antecedent. These nouns denote what brings about or is associated with an effect or result. A cause is an agent or condition that permits the occurrence of an effect or leads to a result: "He is not only dull in himself, but the cause of dullness in others" (Samuel Foote). Reason refers to what explains the occurrence or nature of an effect: There was no obvious reason for the accident. Occasion is a situation that permits or stimulates existing causes to come into play: "The immediate occasion of his departure ... was the favorable opportunity ... of migrating in a pleasant way" (Thomas De Quincey). Antecedent refers to what has gone before and implies a relationship-but not necessarily a causal one-with what ensues: Some of the antecedents of World War II lie in economic conditions in Europe following World War I.

noun

1. That which produces an effect: antecedent, occasion. See start/end.
2. A basis for an action or a decision: ground (often used in plural), motivation, motive, reason, spring. See start/end.
3. That which provides a reason or justification: call, ground (often used in plural), justification, necessity, occasion, reason, wherefore, why. Idioms: why and wherefore. See start/end.
4. A goal or set of interests served with dedication: crusade. See start/end.
5. A legal proceeding to demand justice or enforce a right: action, case, instance, lawsuit, suit. See law.

verb

To be the cause of: bring, bring about, bring on, effect, effectuate, generate, induce, ingenerate, lead to, make, occasion, result in, secure, set off, stir, touch off, trigger. Idioms: bring topasseffect, give rise to. See start/end.

In addition to the idioms beginning with cause, also see lost cause.

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n

Definition: agent, originator
Antonyms: consequence, development, effect, end, fruit, issue, outcome, outgrowth, product, result

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A person, thing, or event that produces an effect. See also cause-and-effect relationship.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Each separate antecedent of an event. Something that precedes and brings about an effect or a result. A reason for an action or condition. A ground of a legal action. An agent that brings something about. That which in some manner is accountable for a condition that brings about an effect or that produces a cause for the resultant action or state.

A suit, litigation, or action. Any question, civil or criminal, litigated or contested before a court of justice.

If an individual is fired from a job at the bank for embezzlement, he or she is fired for cause — as distinguished from decisions or actions considered to be arbitrary or capricious.

In criminal procedure law, probable cause is the reasonable basis for the belief that someone has committed a particular crime. Before someone may be arrested or searched by a police officer without a warrant, probable cause must exist. This requirement is imposed to protect people from unreasonable or unrestricted invasions or intrusions by the government.

In the law of torts, the concept of causality is essential to a person's ability to successfully bring an action for injury against another person. The injured party must establish that the other person brought about the alleged harm. A defendant's liability is contingent upon the connection between his or her conduct and the injury to the plaintiff. The plaintiff must prove that his or her injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's negligence or intentional conduct.

The actual cause is the event directly responsible for an injury. If one person shoves another, thereby knocking the other person out an open window and he or she breaks a leg as a result of the fall, the shove is the actual cause of the injury. The immediate cause of the injury in this case would be the fall, since it is the cause that came right before the injury, with no intermediate causes. In some cases the actual cause and the immediate cause of an injury may be the same.

Concurrent causes are events occurring simultaneously to produce a given result. They are contemporaneous but either event alone would bring about the effect that occurs. If one person stabs another person who is simultaneously being shot by a third person, either act alone could cause the person's injury.

An intervening cause is one that interrupts the normal flow of events between the wrong and the injury. It comes between an expected sequence of occurrences to produce an unanticipated result. If someone driving under the influence of alcohol grazes a telephone pole that is rotted and thus knocks it down, the condition of the pole would be the intervening cause of its collapse. This is important in determining the liability of the intoxicated driver. If the telephone company knew or should have known about the unsafe condition of the pole and negligently failed to replace it, the telephone company would be responsible for the harm caused by the falling pole. Depending upon how hard the driver hit the pole, the driver may be held contributorily negligent, or partially liable, for the accident that took place.

An intervening efficient cause is one that totally supersedes the original wrongful act or omission. For example, an intoxicated cabdriver is transporting a person in a cab with faulty brakes. An accident occurs, which is a direct result of the intoxication rather than the faulty brakes. The injury resulting to the passenger is attributable to the driver's condition. The intervening efficient cause thereby broke the causal connection between the original wrong of the faulty brakes and the injury.

The proximate cause of an injury is the act or omission of an act without which the harm would not have occurred. This is a concept in the law of torts and involves the question of whether or not a defendant's conduct is so significant as to make him or her liable for a resulting injury. For example, a woman throws a lighted match into a wastepaper basket which starts a fire that burns down a building. The wind carries the flames to the building next door. Her act of throwing the match would be the proximate cause of the fire and the resulting damage; however, she may not be held fully liable for all resulting consequences.

An unforeseeable cause is one that unexpectedly and unpredictably results from the proximate cause. The degree of injury sustained is unanticipated or far removed from the negligent or intentional conduct that took place. For example, if a customer in a supermarket irritates a clerk and the clerk pushes the customer out of the way, which results in prolonged bleeding because the person is a hemophiliac, the bleeding is an unforeseeable consequence of the clerk's action. Even if the clerk intentionally pushed the customer, the resulting injury is clearly far removed from the conduct.

A remote cause is one that is removed or separate from the proximate cause of an injury. If the injuries suffered by a person admitted to a hospital after being hit by a truck are aggravated by malpractice, the malpractice is a remote cause of injury to that person. The fact that the cause of an injury is remote does not relieve a defendant of liability for the act or omission, but there may be an apportionment of liability between the defendants.

In diseases, an agent, event, condition or characteristic which plays an essential role in producing an occurrence of the disease. Because there is nowadays much less certainty about what actually establishes a disease state it is becoming more common to use terms such as disease determinants, causal association, causal relationship. koch's postulates are no longer the sole criterion used in establishing causality.

• constitutional c. — an inherent characteristic of the patient. Usually a systemic defect, e.g. protoporphyria.
• direct c. — there must be no known variable intervening between the suspect factor and the disease.
• endogenous c. — the cause comes from within the patient. See also constitutional cause (above).
• exogenous c. — the cause comes from outside the patient, e.g. a virus infection.
• indirect c. — all causes other than the direct cause (see above).
• host c. — see endogenous cause (above).
• necessary c. — a factor which must be present to produce disease; the disease does not occur unless the factor was or is present.
• precipitating c. — the trigger mechanism that initiates the commencement of the disease state.
• predisposing c. — a mechanism that makes a patient more susceptible to the precipitating cause.
• primary c. — the principal factor in causing the disease.
• secondary c. — a factor that assists the primary cause. A cause of secondary importance.
• specific c. — the single cause in a single cause–single disease relationship.
• sufficient c. — a minimal set of conditions and events which inevitably produce disease.

IN BRIEF: A person or thing that brings about some action or result.

All things are cause for either laughter or weeping. — Seneca (4 BC-65 AD).

Tutor's tip: The "caws" (sound made by crows) will "cause" (something that leads to an effect or result) me to build a scarecrow.

Quotes:

"No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny." - Hannah Arendt

"The power of a movement lies in the fact that it can indeed change the habits of people. This change is not the result of force but of dedication, of moral persuasion." - Steven Biko

"Men are blind in their own cause." - Heywood Broun

"The humblest citizen of all the land when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of Error." - William Jennings Bryan

"In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes." - Julius Caesar

"Take away the cause, and the effect ceases." - Miguel De Cervantes

See more famous quotes about Causes

Dansk (Danish)
n. - årsag, grund, sag
v. tr. - forårsage, medføre

idioms:

• cause célèbre    skandalesag
• in the cause of    i anledning af

Nederlands (Dutch)
veroorzaken, aanrichten, baren, berokkenen, bezorgen, toebrengen, verwekken, ervoor zorgen dat, oorzaak

Français (French)
n. - cause, raison, (Jur) cause, (Jur) action
v. tr. - causer, occasionner, provoquer, susciter, entraîner, amener

idioms:

• cause célèbre    cause célèbre
• in the cause of    pour la cause de

Deutsch (German)
v. - bewirken, verursachen, veranlassen, daß
n. - Ursache, Anlaß, Sache

idioms:

• cause célèbre    Cause célèbre, aufsehenerregender Fall
• in the cause of    für

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - προκαλώ, προξενώ
n. - αιτία, αίτιο, λόγος, δικαιολογία, (νομ.) βάση αγωγής, (μτφ.) (ιδεολογικός) αγώνας, σκοπός

idioms:

• cause cΓlΛbre    πολύκροτη δίκη, πασίγνωστη υπόθεση
• in the cause of    υπέρ, για χάρη, στην υπόθεση

Italiano (Italian)
causare, arrecare, generare, procurare, produrre, infliggere, provocare, cagionare, causa

idioms:

• cause célèbre    caso famoso, processo celebre
• in the cause of    in favore di
• make common cause with    fare causa comune con

Português (Portuguese)
v. - causar
n. - causa (f)

idioms:

• cause célèbre    causa (f) célebre
• in the cause of    em causa de
• make common cause with    juntar forças por uma causa

Русский (Russian)
стать причиной, привести к чему-либо, причина

idioms:

• cause cВlКbre    громкий процесс
• in the cause of    во имя
• make common cause with    объединяться ради общей цели

Español (Spanish)
n. - causa, motivo, razón, causante
v. tr. - causar, provocar, ocasionar, hacer que

idioms:

• cause célèbre    caso famoso o célebre
• in the cause of    por, en la causa de

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - orsaka, få att, förmå
n. - orsak, sak (jur.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
原因, 理由, 根据, 起因, 动机, 导致, 引起, 使发生

idioms:

• cause c俵奲re    轰动的讼案, 有名的案例
• in the cause of    为了...事业

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 原因, 理由, 根據, 起因, 動機
v. tr. - 導致, 引起, 使發生

idioms:

• cause cre    轟動的訟案, 有名的案例
• in the cause of    為了...事業

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 원인, 주의, 소송
v. tr. - ~의 원인이 되다

idioms:

• in the cause of    ~을 위해

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 原因, 理由, 訴訟, 訴訟理由, 主義
v. - 原因となる

idioms:

• cause cＭ鈎re    有名な裁判
• in the cause of    のために

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) سبب, أحدث, أدى الى, أنتج (الاسم) سبب, داع, موجب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סיבה, גורם, עיקרון, מטרה, עניין, עילה לתביעה, עמדה בסכסוך‬
v. tr. - ‮גרם ל-, הביא‬

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