Cause , conj. Abbreviation of Because. B.
Jonson.
Cause , v. i. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse. [Obs.]
Spenser.
Cause , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Caused (?);
p. pr. & v. n. Causing.]
[F.
causer, fr. cause, fr. L. causa. See Cause, n., and cf. Acouse.]
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 (k&add;z), n. [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) 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 result. -- 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.
Hear it pronounced