Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result. · Sufficient reason. · A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends. · Sake; interest; advantage.
To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce. · To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority. · To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
* 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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "cause"
},
"expansion": "Middle English cause"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "cause",
"4": "",
"5": "a cause, a thing"
},
"expansion": "Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "causa",
"4": "",
"5": "reason, sake, cause"
},
"expansion": "Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "itc-pro",
"3": "*kaussā"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Italic *kaussā"
},
{
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"args": {
"1": "law"
},
"expansion": "(law)"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "chose",
"t1": "(law) a thing; personal property"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of chose (“(law) a thing; personal property”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "intinga"
},
"expansion": "Old English intinga"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "causen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English causen"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "causer"
},
"expansion": "Old French causer"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-med",
"3": "causāre"
},
"expansion": "Medieval Latin causāre"
}
],
"links": [
[
"cause",
"cause#Middle_English"
],
[
"cause",
"cause#Old_French"
],
[
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"causa#Latin"
],
[
"*kaussā",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/kaussā"
],
[
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"chose#English"
],
[
"accuse",
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],
[
"excuse",
"excuse"
],
[
"recuse",
"recuse"
],
[
"ruse",
"ruse"
],
[
"intinga",
"intinga#Old_English"
],
[
"causen",
"causen#Middle_English"
],
[
"causer",
"causer#Old_French"
],
[
"causāre",
"causare#Latin"
]
],
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"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.",
"Sufficient reason.",
"A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.",
"Sake; interest; advantage."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"often",
"with-of",
"especially",
"uncountable",
"obsolete"
],
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},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To set off an event or action; to bring about; to produce.",
"To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.",
"To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse."
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"ditransitive",
"obsolete"
],
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}
}