cause
UK/kɔːz/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/koːz/
cause noun: the source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result. Also the alternative form of 'cause.
Noun
cause (countable and uncountable, plural causes)
- The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
- They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
- We thanke you both, yet one but flatters vs,
As well appeareth by the cauſe you come,
Namely, to appeale each other of high treaſon.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
- Sufficient reason.
- There is no cause for alarm.
- The end of the war was a cause for celebration.
- Synonyms:
- grounds, justification, occasion
- A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
- God befriend us, as our cause is just.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles]...
- Synonyms:
- objective, purpose, aim, ambition, aspiration, end, terminus ad quem, goal, intention, object
- Sake; interest; advantage.
- I did it not for his cause.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 7:12
- Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause?1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- litigation, action, lawsuit, suit
Verb
cause (third-person singular simple present causes, present participle causing, simple past and past participle caused)
- To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.
- The lightning caused thunder.
- Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her...1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
- His dogged determination caused the fundraising to be successful.
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 7:4
- To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
- He, to shifte their curious request, / Gan causen why she could not come in place.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Also used as
cause is also the alternative form of 'cause.
cause meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
cause in Hindi
- source or reason of an event or action
- कारण kāraṇ
- goal, aim, principle
- लक्ष्य lakṣya
cause in Tamil
- to set off an event or action
- ஏற்படுத்து ēṟpaṭuttu
cause in Urdu
- source or reason of an event or action
- وجہ waja, سبب sabab, باعث bāis
cause in Bengali
- source or reason of an event or action
- কারণ karon
- to set off an event or action
- ঘটানো ghoṭanō
More languagesFewer languages
- cause in Sanskrit
- हेतु hetu
- cause in Nepali
- गोल gol
- cause in Tagalog
- kawsa
- cause in Arabic
- سَبَب sabab, قَضِيَّة qaḍiyya, سَبَّبَ sabbaba
- cause in Malay
- sebab, pasal
- cause in Indonesian
- kausa, penyebab, menyebabkan
- cause in Persian
- سبب sabab, باعث شدن bâ'es šodan
- cause in Thai
- สาเหตุ sǎa-hèet
- cause in Vietnamese
- nguyên nhân
Examples of cause in a sentence
- He has no cause to do that.
- But we had believed the cause that America had asked us to serve in Vietnam was a worthy one, and millions who defended it had done so honorably.1999, John McCain, Faith of My Fathers, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 348:
- Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Synonyms of cause
18 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of cause
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | causes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | causes |
| present participle | causing |
| past participle | caused |
| past | caused |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | causest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | causedst |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | causeth |
Origin of cause
* 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.
Words formed from cause
- all-cause
- because
- by-cause
- bycause
- causal
- causality
- causative
- cause and effect
- cause celebre
- cause célèbre
- causeful
- causeless
- cause of action
- cause of death
- common cause
- concause
- countercause
- efficient cause
- external cause
- false cause
- final cause
- first cause
- forcause
- for cause
- formal cause
- good cause
- hour of cause
- intervening cause
- just cause
- lost cause
- make common cause
- material cause
- motor cause
- no one should be judge in his own cause
- order to show cause
- probable cause
- protocause
- proximate cause
- rebel without a cause
- root-cause
- root cause
- show cause
- style of cause
- subcause
- superseding cause
- supervening cause
- with cause
- without cause
- uncause
- causable
- causation
- cause a stir
- causee
- causer
- causingness
Phrases with cause
Words that rhyme with cause
Questions about cause
- What does cause mean?
- Cause means the source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
- What is cause in Hindi?
- Cause in Hindi is कारण (kāraṇ), लक्ष्य (lakṣya). See Cause meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use cause in a sentence?
- He has no cause to do that.
- What part of speech is cause?
- Cause can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce cause?
- Cause is pronounced /kɔːz/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cause?
- The plural of cause is causes.
Words near cause in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cause (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-cause.ogg.
Cite this entry: “cause.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cause. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.