causal
nounEtymology Borrowed from Late Latin causalis, from Latin causa (“cause”), equivalent to cause + -al, see cause.
1
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A word (such as because) that expresses a reason or a cause.
causal
adjUK /ˈkɔːzəl/ · AU, UK, NZ /ˈkoːzəl/
Etymology Borrowed from Late Latin causalis, from Latin causa (“cause”), equivalent to cause + -al, see cause.
1
Of, relating to, or being a cause of something; causing.
- There is no causal relationship between eating carrots and seeing in the dark.
- 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.1982, Frank Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia”, in The Philosophical Quarterly (1950–), volume 32, Oxford University Press, page 133:
1 more example
- 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?2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 44:
- Derived terms
- acausal, anticausal, bicausal, causalism, causalist, causal link, causal loop, causal loop paradox, causal ontology, causal set, causal verb, causet, Granger-causal, intercausal, isocausal, monocausal, multicausal, noncausal, omnicausal, polycausal, retrocausal, uncausal, Wold-causal
- Related terms
- cause, causal-final, causality, causation