The corpus record — Latin
causa
legal case, trial; cause, purpose
Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.
Causa (rendered "KOW-sah," "legal case, cause, purpose") is one of the load-bearing nouns of the Latin record, and it turns up wherever Romans argue: 10,698 occurrences across 340 works. It gathers thickest in history and the courtroom. The heaviest count belongs to Ab urbe condita ("From the Founding of the City," 851), which the concordance attributes to Livy; then the Institutio Oratoria ("The Training of the Orator," 643), the Naturalis Historia ("Natural History," 419), the Epistulae ad Familiares ("Letters to Friends," 362), De Oratore ("On the Orator," 328), and In C. Verrem ("Against Verres," 322). This is a word at home where a reason is stated and a case is pleaded.
The lexica split on its first sense. De Vaan (Etymological Dictionary of Latin, Brill 2008) glosses it "legal case, trial; cause, purpose," marks it feminine, and dates it early — attested from the Lex XII (the Twelve Tables) and Naevius on, spelled caussa in inscriptions until the first century BC. He lists the family it grew: causari ("to plead a cause") and accusare ("to blame, charge"), with accusator ("prosecutor"). Lewis & Short (A Latin Dictionary, 1879) note the same older caussa in Cicero and record a guess — that the root may be cav- of caveo ("to be on guard"), the thing "defended or protected," compared with cura ("care"). That derivation they offer only as "perhaps."
For deeper ancestry the record holds pointers, not answers: two etymological treatments are matched — de Vaan (Brill 2008) and Ernout-Meillet (Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine, DELL, 1932; 4th ed. 1959) — but both appear as places to look, without a reconstructed root.
The citable surfaces are all Livy, book 1, the noun turning through its cases — causam, causa, causae — across the opening pages of Rome's story: the reason a thing was done, and the case for doing it.
If one word names both the cause of an act and the case argued for it, which came first in Roman ears — the reason, or the plea?
Witnesses: de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin · Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary · de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages · Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine (DELL)
Densest 12 of 340 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.
1. causa — de Vaan
2. causa — Lewis & Short
causa (by Cicero, and also a little after him, caussa, ae, f.perh. root cav- of caveo, prop. that which is defended or protected; cf. cura,
Quint. 1, 7, 20; so Fast. Praenest. pp. 321, 322; Inscr. Orell. 3681; 4077; 4698 al.; in Mon. Ancyr. 3, 1 dub.),factis,id. 4, 2, 52; 12, 1, 36 al.; very freq. in all periods, and in all kinds of discourse. In its different meanings syn. with ratio, principium, fons, origo, caput; excusatio, defensio; judicium, controversia, lis; partes, actio; condicio, negotium, commodum, al.).
ignis ardoris. Itaque non sic causa intellegi debet, ut quod cuique antecedat, id ei causa sit, sed quod cuique efficienter antecedat,Cic. Fat. 15, 34:
justa et magna et perspicua,id. Rosc. Am. 14, 40: id. Phil. 2, 22, 53; id. Att. 16, 7, 6:
sontica causa, v. sonticus.—Followed by a particle of cause: causa, quamobrem, etc.,Ter. And. 5, 1, 18; id. Eun. 1, 2, 65; id. Heaut. 2, 3, 95; id. Hec. 3, 3, 22; 3, 5, 2; 4, 4, 73; Cic. Fin. 4, 16, 44:
causa, quare, etc.,Cic. Inv. 2, 20, 60:
causa, cur, etc.,id. Ac. 1, 3, 10; Quint. 11, 3, 16; 2, 3, 11; Hor. C. 1, 16, 19 al.:
causa quod, etc.,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 46, § 109; id. Phil. 6, 1, 1; Quint. 2, 1, 1; 5, 10, 30 al.:
ut, etc.,Plaut. Capt. 2, 2, 7; Ter. Eun. 3, 3, 6; Cic. Fam. 1, 8, 4 al.:
haud causa quin, etc.,Plaut. Most. 2, 2, 4:
quae causa est quin,id. Capt. 2, 2, 103:
quid causae est quin,Ter. And. 3, 4, 21; Cic. Tusc. 5, 11, 32; Hor. S. 1, 1, 20:
nulla causa est quin,Cic. Fam. 2, 17, 1:
causa quominus,Sall. C. 51, 41; Liv. 34, 56, 9:
causa ne,id. 34, 39, 9:
nihil causae est cur non, etc.,Quint. 11, 3, 59:
causae propter quas, etc.,id. 4, 2, 12; 5, 7, 24; 8, 6, 23.—With gen. obj.:
is, qui causa mortis fuit,Cic. Phil. 9, 3, 7; Liv. 21, 21, 1; Quint. 7, 3, 18; 7, 4, 42:
salutis,Lucr. 3, 349:
morbi,id. 3, 502; Verg. G. 4, 397; Hor. C. 2, 2, 14:
nos causa belli sumus,Liv. 1, 13, 3:
causa mortis fuistis,Quint. 7, 3, 32; Sen. Ira, 2, 27, 3:
explicandae philosophiae,Cic. Div. 2, 2, 6:
nec vero umquam bellorum civilium semen et causa deerit,id. Off. 2, 8, 29; so,
belli,Sall. C. 2, 2; Verg. A. 7, 553; Hor. C. 2, 1, 2; id. S. 1, 3, 108; id. Ep. 1, 2, 9:
felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,Verg. G. 2, 490:
vera objurgandi causa,Ter. And. 1, 1, 131; cf. with ad:
causa ad objurgandum,id. ib. 1, 1, 123; id. Hec. 4, 4, 71; and poet. with inf.:
consurgere in arma,Verg. A. 10, 90:
perire,Tib. 3, 2, 30:
gestare carinas,Luc. 5, 464.— With prepp.:
cum causā,with good reason, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 8, § 21; id. de Or. 2, 60, 247; Varr. R. R. 1, 17, 4:
sine causā,without good reason, Cic. Div. 2, 28, 61; id. Fat. 9, 18; id. de Or. 2, 60, 246; id. Att. 13, 22, 1; Caes. B. G. 1, 14; Nep. Alcib. 6, 2; Quint. 1, 10, 35; 1, 12, 9:
his de causis,Cic. Att. 6, 1, 6:
id nisi gravi de causā non fecisset,id. ib. 7, 7, 3:
justis de causis,id. Fam. 5, 20, 2:
quā de causā,id. Off. 1, 41, 147; id. Ac. 1, 12, 43; Caes. B. G. 1, 1:
quibus de causis,Quint. 4, 2, 15;
less freq. in ante-Aug. prose: quā ex causa,Cic. Rep. 2, 7, 13; id. Mur. 17, 36; but very freq. in Quint., Sen., and the younger Plin.; so,
nullā aliā ex causā,Sen. Ep. 29, 1:
multis ex causis,Quint. 5, 12, 3:
quibus ex causis,id. 4, 2, 15; Plin. Ep. 6, 6, 8:
ex plurimis causis,id. ib. 1, 3, 6:
ex his (causis),id. ib. 5, 8, 6:—ob eam causam scribo, ut, etc., Cic. Fam. 1, 8, 4:
illa festinatio fuit ob illam causam, ne, etc.,Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 40, § 99; Nep. Milt. 6, 2:
ob eam causam, quia, etc.,Cic. N. D. 3, 20, 51:
ob eas causas,Caes. B. G. 1, 10:
ob eam ipsam causam,Cic. Brut. 7, 29:
quam ob causam,Nep. Paus. 2, 6:
propter eam quam dixi causam,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 46, § 110:
causae propter quas,Quint. 4, 2, 12.—In causā esse, to be the cause of, responsible for, etc. (rare):
in causā haec sunt,Cic. Fam. 1, 1, 1:
vim morbi in causā esse, quo serius perficeretur,Liv. 40, 26, 5:
verecundiam multis in causā fuisse, ut, etc.,Quint. 12, 5, 2; Plin. Ep. 6, 10, 3; 7, 5, 1; Plin. 9, 30, 49, § 94; cf.:
tarditatis causa in senatu fuit,Liv. 4, 58, 4.—
honoris tui causā huc ad te venimus,Plaut. Poen. 3, 3, 25; Ter. Phorm. 5, 7, 35; Cic. Fam. 13, 26, 2 al.:
animi causa, v. animus, II., etc.: exempli causā, v. exemplum: causā meā,Plaut. Most. 5, 2, 47; id. Poen. 1, 2, 160; id. Am. 1, 3, 42 al.; Ter. Heaut. prol. 41; 5, 5, 23 al.;
causā meāpte,id. ib. 4, 3, 8:
nostra causa,id. Phorm. 4, 4, 14; Cic. Ac. 2, 38, 120; Quint. 7, 4, 9:
vestrā magis hoc causā volebam quam meā,Cic. de Or. 1, 35. 162:
aliena potius causa quam sua,Quint. 3, 7, 16.—Put before the noun:
rastros capsit causă potiendi agri,Enn. Ann. 324 Vahl.:
quidquid hujus feci, causā virginis Feci,Ter. Eun. 1, 2, 122; so Liv. 26, 32, 6; 31, 12, 4; 39, 14, 8; 40, 41 fin.; 40, 44, 10.—Rarely with propter in the same sense:
vestrarum sedum templorumque causā, propter salutem meorum civium,Cic. Sest. 20, 45.—With gen. of pers. or reflex. pron. instead of possess. very rare (v. Lahmeyer ad Cic. Lael. 16, 57):
quod illi semper sui causā fecerant,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 52, § 121.
cum causā accedere ad accusandum,with good reason, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 8, § 21; so,
cum causā,id. de Or. 2, 60, 247; Varr. R. R. 1, 17, 4; 3, 16, 7;
and the contrary: sine causā,without good reason, Cic. Div. 2, 28, 61; id. de Or. 2, 60, 246; Caes. B. G. 1, 14; Nep. Alcib. 6, 2 al.—
qui (Nebatius) mihi dedit causam harum litterarum,Cic. Fam. 11, 27, 8;
for which poët.: Bacchus et ad culpam causas dedit,Verg. G. 2, 455 Forbig. ad loc.—
habere causam,Plaut. As. 4, 1, 44:
fingere falsas causas,Ter. Hec. 4, 4, 71; id. And. 1, 3, 8 Ruhnk.; 4, 1, 18; id. Phorm. 2, 1, 4:
fingit causas ne det,id. Eun. 1, 2, 58; cf. Tib. 1, 6, 11:
morae facere,to pretend reasons for the delay, Sall. J. 36, 2:
inferre causam,Caes. B. G. 1, 39, 2:
causam interponere,Nep. Them. 7, 1; cf. id. Milt. 4, 1:
bellandi,id. Ham. 3, 1:
belli,Tac. A. 12, 45:
jurgii,Phaedr. 1, 1, 4 al. (On the other hand, causa, a true cause, is opp. to praetextus, a pretext, Suet. Caes. 30.)—So freq. per causam, under the pretext, Caes. B. C. 3, 24; 3, 76; 3, 87; Liv. 2, 32, 1 Drak.; 22, 61, 8; Suet. Caes. 2; id. Oth. 3; id. Vesp. 1; Tib. 1, 6, 26; Ov. H. 20, 140; id. Tr. 2, 452.—
privatae,Cic. Inv. 1, 3, 4:
publicae,id. de Or. 3, 20, 74; id. Rosc. Am. 21, 59:
capitis aut famae,id. Fam. 9, 21, 1:
causam agere,id. de Or. 2, 48, 199; Quint. 6, 1, 54; 7, 2, 55; 10, 7, 30;
11, 1, 67 et saep.: constituere,Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 1, § 1:
perorare,id. Quint. 24, 77:
defendere,Quint. 3, 6, 9; 12, 1, 24; 12, 1, 37; Suet. Caes. 49:
exponere,Quint. 2, 5, 7:
perdere,Cic. Rosc. Com. 4, 10:
obtinere,id. Fam. 1, 4, 1:
tenere (= obticere),Ov. M. 13, 190: causā cadere, v. cado, II.: causam dicere, to defend one's self, or to make a defence (as an advocate), Cic. Rosc. Am. 5, 12 and 13; 21, 54; id. Sest. 8, 18; id. Quint. 8, 31; Liv. 29, 19, 5; Quint. 5, 11, 39; 8, 2, 24; Suet. Caes. 30 et saep.—Poet.: causa prior, the first part of the process, i. e. the trial, Ov. M. 15, 37.—Hence,
ne condemnare causam illam, quam secutus esset, videretur, etc.,Cic. Lig. 9, 27 sq.:
suarum partium causa,Quint. 3, 8, 57:
causa Caesaris melior,id. 5, 11, 42; Tac. A. 1, 36 al. —Hence,
quīcum tibi adfininitas, societas, omnes denique causae et necessitudines veteres intercedebant,Cic. Quint. 15, 48:
explicare breviter, quae mihi sit ratio et causa cum Caesare,id. Prov. Cons. 17, 40; id. Fam. 13, 19, 1.—
ut nonnumquam mortem sibi ipse consciscere aliquis debeat, alius in eādem causā non debeat: num enim aliā in causā M. Cato fuit, alia ceteri, qui se in Africā Caesari tradiderunt?Cic. Off. 1, 31, 112; so Caes. B. G. 4, 4 Herz.:
(Regulus) erat in meliore causā quam, etc.,Cic. Off. 3, 27, 100; id. Agr. 3, 2, 9 (where for causa in the foll. clause is condicio):
atque in hoc genere mea causa est, ut, etc.,id. Fam. 2, 4, 1; cf. id. ib. 9, 13, 1.—
cui senatus dederat publice causam, ut mihi gratias ageret,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 73, § 170:
quod nemo eorum rediisset, qui super tali causā eodem missi erant,Nep. Paus. 4, 1.—
causam metuere,Cels. 3, 3; so Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 11 fin.; Plin. 28, 15, 61, § 218.—Hence in late Lat. for disease, Cael. Aur. Tard. 5, 10, 95; id. Acut. 2, 29, 157; Veg. 1, 25, 1; 3, 6, 11; 3, 45, 5; 4, 4, 2 al.—
6 of 10,698 attestations shown.
Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.