"cause" in seven languages
Meaningcause
Spanish
/ˈkawsa/
fem.learned
French
/koz/
fem.learned
À cause de means 'because of'.
Italian
/ˈkauza/
fem.learned
Portuguese
/ˈkawzɐ/
fem.learned
The inherited CAUSAM is coisa 'thing'.
Romanian
/ˈkawzə/
fem.learned
Catalan
/ˈkawzə/
fem.learned
The inherited CAUSAM is cosa 'thing'.
English
/kɔz/
from Latin/French · Old French cause, from Latin
The Latin ancestor
CAUSAM‘reason; lawsuit’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The learned half of a doublet: spoken Latin wore CAUSA down to cosa / chose / cosa 'thing', while the scholars' word kept its AU and its old meaning.
English relatives: because, accuse, excuse
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In a sentence
- esNo sabemos la causa del incendio.
- frOn ne connaît pas la cause de l'incendie.
- itNon sappiamo la causa dell'incendio.
- ptNão sabemos a causa do incêndio.
- roNu știm cauza incendiului.
- caNo sabem la causa de l'incendi.
- enWe don't know the cause of the fire.
The Latin family
CAUS-· cause, case
CAUSA 'reason, lawsuit' became the ordinary Romance word for 'thing': cosa, chose, cosa — a 'matter' in the legal sense, generalized. The learned doublet causa, cause kept the original meaning, and the courtroom sense lives on in accuse and excuse. Portuguese coisa (Old Portuguese cousa) and Catalan cosa followed; Romanian says lucru, from LUCRUM 'gain'.
CAUSAMcause; case → thing
escosafrchoseitcosaptcoisacacosa
CAUSAMcause (learned)
escausafrcauseitcausaptcausarocauzăcacausaencause
CAUSĀRĪ (Med. Lat. CAUSĀRE)to plead a case; to cause
escausarfrcauseritcausareptcausarrocauzacacausarencause
ACCŪSĀREto call to account
esacusarfraccuseritaccusareptacusarroacuzacaacusarenaccuse
EXCŪSĀREto free from a charge
esexcusarfrexcuseritscusareptescusarroscuzacaexcusarenexcuse