causal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin causalis, from Latin causa (“cause”), equivalent to cause +‎ -al, see cause.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔː.zəl/, [ˈkʰoː.z̥əl]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.zəl/, [kʰɒː.z̥əl]
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑ.zəl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːzəl

Adjective

causal (comparative more causal, superlative most causal)

1. Of, relating to, or being a cause of something; causing.

   There is no causal relationship between eating carrots and seeing in the dark.

   • 1982, Frank Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia”, in The Philosophical Quarterly (1950–), volume 32, Oxford University Press, page 133:

     No matter how often B follows A, and no matter how initially obvious the causality of the connection seems, the hypothesis that A causes B can be overturned by an over-arching theory which shows the two as distinct effects of a common underlying causal process.

   • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 44:

     Time changes attitudes, and while Hart's actions in driving when not fit to do so were certainly in the causal chain of the Great Heck accident, how many other drivers were out there driving when too fatigued to do so?

Usage notes

• See usage notes at causally.

Derived terms

• acausal
• anticausal
• bicausal
• causalism
• causalist
• causal link
• causal loop
• causal loop paradox
• causal ontology
• causal set
• causal verb
• causet
• intercausal
• isocausal
• monocausal
• multicausal
• noncausal
• omnicausal
• polycausal
• retrocausal
• uncausal

Related terms

• cause
• causal-final
• causality
• causation

Translations

of, relating to or being a cause of something

Belarusian: прычы́нны (pryčýnny) Breton: arbennel Bulgarian: причи́нен (bg) (pričínen) Catalan: causal (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 原因的 (zh) (yuányīn de) Czech: příčinný, kauzální (cs) Dutch: causaal (nl) Finnish: kausaalinen (fi), syyperäinen French: causal (fr) German: kausal (de), ursächlich (de) Greek: Ancient: αἰτιατικός (aitiatikós) Hindi: कारणात्मक (kārṇātmak), हेतुक (hi) (hetuk) Ido: kauzala (io) Indonesian: kausal (id) Japanese: 因果の (ja) (いんがの, inga no) Portuguese: causal (pt) Russian: причи́нный (ru) (pričínnyj), кауза́льный (ru) (kauzálʹnyj), причи́нно-сле́дственный (ru) (pričínno-slédstvennyj) Scottish Gaelic: adhbharach Spanish: causal (es) Swedish: kausal (sv), orsaklig Tagalog: masanhi Ukrainian: причи́нний (pryčýnnyj), кауза́льний (kauzálʹnyj), причи́нно-наслідко́вий (pryčýnno-naslidkóvyj)

Noun

causal (plural causals)

1. (grammar) A word (such as because) that expresses a reason or a cause.

Further reading

• “causal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “causal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Calusa, casual, casula

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin causālis, from Latin causa.

Adjective

causal m or f (masculine and feminine plural causals)

1. causal

Related terms

• causa

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin causālis, from Latin causa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ko.zal/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Homophones: causale, causales

Adjective

causal (feminine causale, masculine plural causaux, feminine plural causales)

1. causal

Further reading

• “causal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin causālis. By surface analysis, causa +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kawˈzaw/ [kaʊ̯ˈzaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kawˈzal/ [kawˈzaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kawˈzal/ [kawˈzaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kawˈza.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: cau‧sal

Adjective

causal m or f (plural causais)

1. causal (of, relating to or being a cause of something)

Derived terms

• causalidade
• causalmente

Related terms

• causa
• coisa

Noun

causal f (plural causais)

1. reason, motive

   Synonyms: motivo, razão

2. clipping of conjunção causal (“causal conjunction”)

Further reading

• “causal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “causal”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “causal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “causal”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “causal”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025, →ISBN
• “causal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Anagrams

• casual

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin causālis, from Latin causa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kauˈsal/ [kau̯ˈsal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cau‧sal

Adjective

causal m or f (masculine and feminine plural causales)

1. causal

Related terms

• causa
• causalidad

Further reading

• “causal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025