Casualty Meaning
/ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomething that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.
nounA person suffering from injuries or who has been killed due to an accident or through an act of violence.
Sentence Examples
In war, truth is the first casualty.
We've got one casualty.
The first casualty of every war is the truth.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The car accident resulted in one serious ____ who was rushed to the hospital.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hospital's ____ department was very busy after the major accident.
Word Origin & History
From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Among recent casualties is the S.B.B.'s branch from Nyon to Divonne-les-Bains, just across the French frontier, closed to all traffic at the commencement of the winter service."
— 1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: Switzerland: Federal aid for three minor lines”, in Modern Railways, page 418:
"Today, the pocket calculator is a dying product, a casualty of digitization, which has been relegated to the role of a graphic icon on phone and computer screens rather than an object in its own right, but back in the early 1970s, it was at the forefront of consumer technology."
— 2012 March 4, Alice Rawsthorn, “Farewell, Pocket Calculator?”, in The New York Times:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The car accident resulted in one serious ____ who was rushed to the hospital.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hospital's ____ department was very busy after the major accident.