causa

causa

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

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

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

causa f (plural causes)

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

causa

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

• “causa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Latin causa.

causa f

1. thing

• IPA^(key): /ko.za/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: causas, causât

causa

1. third-person singular past historic of causer

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

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

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “causa”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• 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

causa

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

causa (plural causas)

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

• causal

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

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

causa f (plural cause)

1. cause
2. (law) lawsuit

   Synonym: lite

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

causa

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

• a causa di
• causare

• causale
• cosa

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

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”).^[1][2] Others are skeptical of an Indo-European origin.^[3] Related to Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌅𐌔𐌀 (cavsa).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkau̯.sa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaːu̯.sa]

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. (Late Latin) thing

First-declension noun.

causā (+ genitive)

1. for the sake of, on account of

   urbis causā ― for the sake of the city

• “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

• IPA^(key): [ˈkawzo]

• Audio:

  (file)

Borrowed from Latin causa.

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause

   Synonym: encausa

• causar

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

causa f (plural causas)

1. (Gascony, Languedoc) thing

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

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

• Rhymes: -awzɐ
• Hyphenation: cau‧sa

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

causa f (plural causas)

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

causa

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

• “causa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “causa”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “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, 2003–2025
• “causa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “causa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Possibly from Occitan cauça, from Vulgar Latin *calcea (through the intermadiates calza~cauza), ultimately from Latin calceus. Cognate with Italian calza (calzetta, calzone).

• canza (nasalized from earlier calza)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.sa/, [ˈkaw.sa], [ˈka.ʊ.sa], [ˈka.vʊ.sa]
• Rhymes: -ausa
• Hyphenation: càu‧sa

causa f (plural causi)

1. (dated, clothing) Any garment worn from the feet up, possibly reaching to the waist.

   Synonym: causetta

2. (pluralia tantum) causi: pants, trousers, pantaloons

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

• cosa (inherited)

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.u.sa/, [ˈka.ʊ.sa], [ˈkaw.sa], [ˈka.vʊ.sa]
• Rhymes: -ausa
• Hyphenation: càu‧sa

causa f (plural causi)

1. cause
2. (law) lawsuit

   Synonym: sciarra

• IPA^(key): /ˈkausa/ [ˈkau̯.sa]

• Audio (Mexico):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ausa
• Syllabification: cau‧sa

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

causa f (plural causas)

1. cause
2. (law) lawsuit

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

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

causa

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

• “causa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “causa”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• 1. DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea
• 2. DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea