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Material cause

 - 4 dictionary results

material cause

 
Use Material cause in a Sentence
–noun Aristotelianism.
See under cause (def. 8b).
Origin:
1350–1400; ME

cause

  [kawz] noun, verb, caused, caus⋅ing.
–noun
1. a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident?
2. the reason or motive for some human action: The good news was a cause for rejoicing.
3. good or sufficient reason: to complain without cause; to be dismissed for cause.
4. Law.
a. a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law.
b. a case for judicial decision.
5. any subject of discussion or debate.
6. a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated: the Socialist cause; the human rights cause.
7. the welfare of a person or group, seen as a subject of concern: support for the cause of the American Indian.
8. Philosophy.
a. the end or purpose for which a thing is done or produced.
b. Aristotelianism. any of the four things necessary for the movement or the coming into being of a thing, namely a material (material cause), something to act upon it (efficient cause), a form taken by the movement or development (formal cause), and a goal or purpose (final cause).
–verb (used with object)
9. to be the cause of; bring about.
—Idiom
10. make common cause, to unite in a joint effort; work together for the same end: They made common cause with neighboring countries and succeeded in reducing tariffs.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME < L causa reason, sake, case

Related forms:
caus⋅a⋅ble, adjective
caus⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
causeless, adjective
cause⋅less⋅ly, adverb
cause⋅less⋅ness, noun
causer, noun

Synonyms:
1. Cause, occasion refer to the starting of effects into motion. A cause is an agency, perhaps acting through a long time, or a long-standing situation, that produces an effect: The cause of the quarrel between the two men was jealousy. An occasion is an event that provides an opportunity for the effect to become evident, or perhaps promotes its becoming evident: The occasion was the fact that one man's wages were increased. 3. See reason. 9. effect, make, create, produce.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

cause  (n.)
c.1225, from L. causa "a cause, reason, judicial process, lawsuit," of unknown origin. Cause célèbre "celebrated legal case" is 1763, from Fr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: cause
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: caused; caus·ing
1 : to serve as the cause of causing injuries for which she sues —Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Company, 162 N.E.99 (1928)>
2 : to effect by command, authority, or force cause an investigation to be made>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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