causal Definition
causal (-əl)
adjective
- of a cause or causes
- being or involving a cause
- relating to cause and effect
- expressing a cause or reason
Etymology: ME causel < LL causalis
noun
a word expressing a cause, as since, therefore, for
causal Related Forms
caus′·ally adverb
causal Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- attribution: Factors of interest The study of spontaneously made causal attributions during an open-ended interview with seriously mentally ill patients.
- determinism: We also argue that a potent direct challenge to moral responsibility from causal determinism does not succeed.
- inference: The debate on causal inferences is a bit more difficult.
- reasoning: Combining social concepts: the role of causal reasoning.
- explanation: In the second, he offers causal explanations for what he is considering.
- antecedent: EITHER What causal antecedents does an intentional action have to have?
Modifying Another Word
- also: These theories provide not only descriptions of, but also causal explanations for, the behavior of moving objects.
- not: As such, it is not causal in the mechanistic sense; nonetheless, it exhibits a kind of causality.
- necessarily: It is important to note, however, that these positive associations are not necessarily causal.
- directly: For I believe God is not the cause of evil, or cause of good in that directly causal sense.
- genuinely: Yet we have still not directly attributed welfare reform to identifiable subjects in a genuinely causal explanation.
- somehow: Further, it is the originator on its own that is somehow causal, as distinct from a set of items including the originator.
Preposition: in
character: Indeed, contemporary physics tells us the actual world abounds with probabilistic processes that are causal in character.
Browse dictionary entries near causal
- ‹ causable
- ‹ causa
- ‹ caus
- ‹ caulk
- ‹ caulis
- ‹ cauline
- ‹ cauliflower ear
- ‹ cauliflower
- ‹ caulicle
- ‹ caulescent
- causalgia ›
- causality ›
- causation ›
- causative ›
- cause ›
- cause célèbre ›
- cause of action ›
- causerie ›
- causeway ›
- causey ›

