Definition of: cause

(kôz) noun
1. The power or efficient agent producing any thing or event.
2. Any occasion or condition upon the occurrence of which an event takes place.
3. Any rational ground for choice or action; reason.
4. A great enterprise, movement, principle, or aim.
5. Law An action or suit; also, a ground of action.
6. Obs. Behalf; interest.
7. Philos. The object or end for which anything is done or made; purpose; aim.
—v.t. caused, caus·ing To be the cause of; produce; effect; induce; compel. [<F <L causa cause, legal case]
—caus′a·ble adjective
—cause′less adjective
—caus′er noun Synonyms (noun): actor, agent, antecedent, author, causality, causation, condition, creator, designer, former, fountain, motive, occasion, origin, originator, power, precedent, reason, source, spring. The efficient cause, that which makes anything to be or be done, is the common meaning of the word, as in the saying “There is no effect without a cause.” Every man instinctively recognizes himself acting through will as the cause of his own actions. The Creator is the Great First Cause of all things. A condition is something that necessarily precedes a result, but does not produce it. An antecedent simply precedes a result, with or without any agency in producing it; as, Monday is the invariable antecedent of Tuesday, but not the cause of it. The direct antonym of cause is effect, while that of antecedent is consequent. An occasion is some event which brings a cause into action at a particular moment; gravitation and heat are the causes of an avalanche; the steep incline of the mountain side is a necessary condition. Causality is the doctrine or principle of causes, causation the action or working of causes. Motive is an impulse of an intelligent being which incites to action, and, if unchecked, is a cause of action. Compare DESIGN, REASON. Antonyms: consequence, creation, development, effect, end, event, fruit, issue, outcome, outgrowth, product, result.