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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

cause.

The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kɔːz/Received-Pronunciation[kʰo̞ːz̥]Received-Pronunciation/koːz/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard[kʰoːz̥]Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard

  1. The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.

    countable · often · with-of
    They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.

  2. Sufficient reason.

    especially · uncountable
    There is no cause for alarm.
    The end of the war was a cause for celebration.

  3. A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.

    countable

  4. Sake; interest; advantage.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable

  5. Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.

    countable · obsolete

  6. 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.

    countable
Where this word comes from

* 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.

verb/kɔːz/Received-Pronunciation[kʰo̞ːz̥]Received-Pronunciation/koːz/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard[kʰoːz̥]Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard

  1. To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.

    transitive
    The lightning caused thunder.

  2. To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.

    ditransitive
    His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.

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

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

* 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.

conj

  1. Alternative form of 'cause; because

    alt-of · alternative
    Why not? Cause I don't wanna.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.