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Origin and history of causative

causative(adj.)

early 15c., causatif, "effective as a cause or agent," from Old French causatif, from Latin causativus, from causa "a cause, reason" (see cause (n.)). The meaning "expressing causation" is from c. 1600; hence the noun, in grammar, "a form of a noun or verb expressing causation" (1824).

Entries linking to causative

c. 1200, "reason or motive for a decision, grounds for action; motive," from Old French cause "cause, reason; lawsuit, case in law" (12c.), and directly from Latin causa "a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit," which is of unknown origin.

From mid-14c. as "cause of an effect; source, origin." From late 14c. as "that which affords opportunity for a cause to operate, occasion;" also "reason for something taking place or for something being so; rational explanation." Also late 14c. as "proper or adequate reason, justification for an action." The sense of "matter of interest or concern; a side taken in controversy" is from c. 1300. Cause célèbre "celebrated legal case" is 1763, from French. Common cause "a shared object or aim" is by 1620s.

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