Cause Meaning
/kɔːz/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
nounSufficient reason.
Sentence Examples
You are always the cause of my worries.
You have no cause for anger.
Unemployment is a major cause of poverty.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor determined that a viral infection was the main ____ of the fever.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The main ____ of the accident was the heavy rain on the road tonight.
Word Origin & History
* 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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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 the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:
"He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"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 Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"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] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
"I'm not fighting for anything anymore, except myself. I'm the only cause I'm interested in."
— 1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Rick (Humphrey Bogart):
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor determined that a viral infection was the main ____ of the fever.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The main ____ of the accident was the heavy rain on the road tonight.