causa

See also: causá, causà, and Causa

Asturian

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkaw.zə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkaw.za]
• Rhymes: -awza
• Hyphenation: cau‧sa

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin causa. Doublet of the inherited cosa. Cognates include English cause, French cause, Italian causa, Portuguese causa, Spanish causa.

Noun

causa f (plural causes)

1. cause (the source of, the reason for)
2. (law) lawsuit

Derived terms

• a causa de
• capicausa
• causal
• causar

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “causa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin causa.

Noun

causa f

1. thing

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ko.za/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: causas, causât

Verb

causa

1. third-person singular past historic of causer

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkawsa/ [ˈkɑw.s̺ɐ]
• Rhymes: -awsa
• Hyphenation: cau‧sa

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin causa. Doublet of the inherited cousa.

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “causa”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “causa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “causa”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “causa”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Interlingua

Noun

causa (plural causas)

1. cause (someone or something that causes a result)

Related terms

• causal

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.za/
• Rhymes: -awza
• Hyphenation: càu‧sa

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin causa. Doublet of the inherited cosa. Cognates include English and French cause, Portuguese and Spanish causa.

Noun

causa f (plural cause)

1. cause
2. (law) lawsuit

   Synonym: lite

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Derived terms

• a causa di
• causare

Related terms

• causale
• cosa

Latin

Alternative forms

• caussa (used by Cicero and a little after him)

Etymology

From Old Latin caussa, from Proto-Italic *kaussā, further origin unknown. Connected by some to Latin cudo (“I strike”), in the sense "strike a cause," in which the Proto-Indo-European form would be *kewh₂-ud-ʰ-t-, from *kewh₂- (“to cut, strike”). Others are skeptical of an Indo-European origin. Related to Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌅𐌔𐌀 (cavsa).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkau̯.sa/, [ˈkäu̯s̠ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkau̯.sa/, [ˈkäːu̯sä]

Noun

causa f (genitive causae); first declension

1. cause, reason

   qua de causa/qua de re/quam ob causam ― for this reason/therefore

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.169–170:

     Ille diēs prīmus lētī prīmusque malōrum
     causa fuit [...].

     That day – a first of death, and onset of misery – it was the cause [of everything].
     (The union of Dido and Aeneas begets tragedy.)

2. (law) case, claim, contention
3. cause, judicial process, lawsuit

   Synonym: cognitiō

4. motive, reason, pretext, inducement, motivation
5. condition, occasion, situation, state
6. (figuratively) justification, explanation
7. (Medieval Latin) thing

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	causa	causae
genitive	causae	causārum
dative	causae	causīs
accusative	causam	causās
ablative	causā	causīs
vocative	causa	causae

Derived terms

• accūsō
• causārius
• causidicus
• causor
• causula
• excūsō
• incūsō
• recūsō

 

Postposition

causā (+ genitive)

1. for the sake of, on account of

   urbis causā ― for the sake of the city

Derived terms

• dicis causā
• in causā sum
• sine causā

 

Descendants

• Dalmatian:
  • causa
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: cosa
    • → Sardinian: cosa
  • Neapolitan: cosa
    • → Occitan: còsa (Guardia Piemontese)
  • Sicilian: cosa
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: cjosse, čhosse
  • Ladin: cossa
  • Romansch: chaussa, caussa, tgossa, chosa
• Venetan:
  • Venetan: cosa
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: còssa
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: chousa
  • Old French: chose, cose
    • French: chose
      • → English: chose ("property")
    • Picard: cose
    • Walloon: tchôze
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: cosa
  • Gascon: causa
  • Occitan: causa, chausa, cauva
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: cosa
  • Asturian: cousa, cosa
  • Mirandese: cousa
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: cousa
    • Fala: coixa, coixha
    • Galician: cousa
    • Portuguese: coisa, cousa (dated), coysa (see there for further descendants)
  • Old Spanish: cosa
    • Ladino: koza
    • Spanish: cosa
• Insular Romance:
  • Old Sardinian: casa
• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Albanian: kafshë
  • → Basque: gauza
  • → Old Irish: caus, cauis
    • Irish: cúis
  • → Berber: taɣawsa
• Later borrowings:
  • → Catalan: causa
  • → Czech: kauza
  • → English: cause
  • → Esperanto: kaŭzo
  • → French: cause
  • → Friulian: cause
  • → Ido: kauzo
  • → Italian: causa
  • → Macedonian: кауза (kauza)
  • → Occitan: causa
  • → Portuguese: causa
  • → Romanian: cauză
  • → Sicilian: causa
  • → Spanish: causa

References

• “causa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “causa”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• causa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• causa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • on the spur of the moment: temporis causa
    
  • to make not the slightest effort; not to stir a finger: manum non vertere alicuius rei causa
    
  • my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: res meae meliore loco, in meliore causa sunt
    
  • my circumstances have not altered: eadem est causa mea or in eadem causa sum
    
  • to quote as a reason; give as excuse: causam afferre
    
  • for valid reasons: iustis de causis
    
  • cogent, decisive reasons: magnae (graves) necessariae causae
    
  • on good grounds; reasonably: non sine causa
    
  • how came it that...: quid causae fuit cur...?
    
  • the motive, cause, is to be found in..: causa posita est in aliqua re
    
  • the motive, cause, is to be found in..: causa repetenda est ab aliqua re (not quaerenda)
    
  • I was induced by several considerations to..: multae causae me impulerunt ad aliquid or ut...
    
  • to interpose, put forward an argument, a reason: causam interponere or interserere
    
  • to find a suitable pretext: causam idoneam nancisci
    
  • under the pretext, pretence of..: per causam (with Gen.)
    
  • cause and effect: causae rerum et consecutiones
    
  • extraneous causes: causae extrinsecus allatae (opp. in ipsa re positae)
    
  • concatenation, interdependence of causes: rerum causae aliae ex aliis nexae
    
  • to leave the question open; to refuse to commit oneself: integrum (causam integram) sibi reservare
    
  • to be favourably disposed towards: alicuius causa velle or cupere
    
  • to speak of some one respectfully: honoris causa aliquem nominare or appellare
    
  • for one's own diversion; to satisfy a whim: voluptatis or animi causa (B. G. 5. 12)
    
  • in memory of..: memoriae causa, ad (not in) memoriam (Brut. 16. 62)
    
  • to cite a person or a thing as an example: aliquem (aliquid) exempli causa ponere, proferre, nominare, commemorare
    
  • a digression, episode: quod ornandi causa additum est
    
  • for political reasons: rei publicae causa (Sest. 47. 101)
    
  • to embrace the cause of..., be a partisan of..: alicuius partes (causam) or simply aliquem sequi
    
  • the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt
    
  • to take up the cause of the people, democratic principles: causam popularem suscipere or defendere
    
  • to be a leading spirit of the popular cause: populi causam agere
    
  • to hold an inquiry into a matter: aliquid, causam cognoscere
    
  • without any examination: incognita causa (cf. sect. XV. 3, indicta causa)
    
  • a civil case: causa privata
    
  • a criminal case: causa publica (Brut. 48. 178)
    
  • to conduct a person's case (said of an agent, solicitor): causam alicuius agere (apud iudicem)
    
  • to address the court (of the advocate): causam dicere, orare (Brut. 12. 47)
    
  • to defend oneself before the judge (of the accused): causam dicere
    
  • to defend a person: causam dicere pro aliquo
    
  • to conduct some one's defence in a case: causam alicuius defendere
    
  • to have a good case: causam optimam habere (Lig. 4. 10)
    
  • to gain a weak case by clever pleading: causam inferiorem dicendo reddere superiorem (λόγον κρείττω ποιειν) (Brut. 8. 30)
    
  • counsel; advocate: patronus (causae) (De Or. 2. 69)
    
  • to undertake a case: causam suscipere
    
  • to undertake a case: ad causam aggredi or accedere
    
  • without going to law: indicta causa (opp. cognita causa)
    
  • to win a case: causam or litem obtinere
    
  • to lose one's case: causam or litem amittere, perdere
    
  • to decide on the conduct of the case: iudicare causam (de aliqua re)
    
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti

Occitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkawzo]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin causa.

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause

   Synonym: encausa

Related terms

• causar

Etymology 2

From Old Occitan [Term?], inherited from Latin causa (in these dialects/varieties). Cf. also encausa (“cause”).

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. (Gascony, Languedoc) thing

Alternative forms

• chausa (Auvergne, Limousin, Provençal, Vivaro-Alpine)
• còsa (Guardiol)
• cauva (Provençal)

Further reading

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 157.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.zɐ/ [ˈkaʊ̯.zɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.zɐ/ [ˈkaʊ̯.zɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.za/ [ˈkaʊ̯.za]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.zɐ/

• Rhymes: -awzɐ
• Hyphenation: cau‧sa

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin causa. Doublet of the inherited coisa and cousa. Cognates include English and French cause, Italian and Spanish causa.

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause, reason
2. (law) suit, lawsuit
3. goal, aim

Derived terms

• justa causa

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Related terms

• causal
• causar

 

Further reading

• “causa”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2024
• “causa”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024
• “causa” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “causa”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
• “causa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
• “causa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkausa/ [ˈkau̯.sa]

• Audio (Mexico):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ausa
• Syllabification: cau‧sa

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin causa. Doublet of the inherited cosa. Cognates include English cause, French cause, Italian causa, Portuguese causa.

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause
2. (law) lawsuit

Derived terms

• a causa de
• causa criminal
• causa eficiente
• causa final
• causa primera

 

Related terms

• acusar
• causal
• causar
• cosa

 

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Quechua kawsay (“life”), influenced by the term above.

Noun

causa f (plural causas)

1. a dish in Peruvian cuisine made with potatoes and layered or topped with meat or vegetables

   Synonyms: causa a la limeña, causa limeña

2. (colloquial, Peru, slang) dude, mate, bro

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:tío

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

causa

1. inflection of causar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “causa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28