Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of cause.
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of cause.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Efficient causes are what we would now simply call ˜causes™.

    Medieval Theories of Causation White, Graham 2009

  • In such a case, we can only reason on the principle that _like_ effects must have _like_ causes, that marks of _design_ imply a _designing_ cause, and that events which cannot be accounted for by _natural causes_ must be ascribed to a Power distinct from nature, and superior to it.

    Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws James Buchanan 1837

  • But while the existence of "natural laws" and the operation of "second causes" are equally admitted, and yet duly discriminated, large room is still left for diversities of opinion or of statement in regard to _the precise relation which God sustains to His works_, and especially in regard to _the nature and method of His agency in connection with the use of "second causes_."

    Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws James Buchanan 1837

  • You cannot be content with knowing the causes of things; and if you knew all the natural science that ever was or ever will be known to men, that would not satisfy you; for it would only tell you the _causes_ of things, while your souls want to know the _reasons_ of things besides; and though I may not be able to tell you the reasons of things, or show you aught but a tiny glimpse here and there of that which I called the other day the glory of Lady Why, yet I believe that somehow, somewhen, somewhere, you will learn something of the reason of things.

    Madam How and Lady Why Charles Kingsley 1847

  • Besides, the argument from analogy in favor of a primary production of life by natural causes, in so far as it is founded on the present law of hereditary transmission, is radically defective, since the two cases are widely different; the one presupposing _a primary organism of the same kind_, from which others are evolved by a law of natural succession, the other exhibiting life as a new product, resulting not from any prior organism, but from the action of _causes of a totally different kind_, which are not known to be capable of giving birth either to vegetable or animal organisms under the actual constitution of

    Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws James Buchanan 1837

  • In the first place, as every cause to which we can ascend is only an effect, it follows that it is the scope, that is, the aim, of philosophy to trace up the series of effects and causes until we arrive at _causes which are not in themselves effects_, "[281] -- that is, to ultimate and final causes.

    Christianity and Greek Philosophy or, the relation between spontaneous and reflective thought in Greece and the positive teaching of Christ and His Apostles 1852

  • Although the term "causes" often refers to nonprofit organizations, we can use the term to describe an overall condition, or to address global concerns such as joblessness, education or the environment.

    Ryan Scott: Cause Integration is a 'Sea Change of Good' Ryan Scott 2011

  • Although the term "causes" often refers to nonprofit organizations, we can use the term to describe an overall condition, or to address global concerns such as joblessness, education or the environment.

    Ryan Scott: Cause Integration is a 'Sea Change of Good' Ryan Scott 2011

  • Why oh why oh why did the Yankees think it was wise to pay $82.5 million to this 34-year-old pitcher, who has proven himself so unreliable and ineffective that the mere mention of his name causes unflappable New Yorkers to seethe?

    Sympathy for A.J. Is Not Tolerated Here Jason Gay 2011

  • Look up 'Realpolitik' if the term causes you difficulty.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008

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