formal cause

for·mal cause

F f

Definitions of formal cause words

noun formal cause a person or thing that acts, happens, or exists in such a way that some specific thing happens as a result; the producer of an effect: You have been the cause of much anxiety. What was the cause of the accident? 1
noun formal cause the reason or motive for some human action: The good news was a cause for rejoicing. 1
noun formal cause good or sufficient reason: to complain without cause; to be dismissed for cause. 1
noun formal cause Law. a ground of legal action; the matter over which a person goes to law. a case for judicial decision. 1
noun formal cause any subject of discussion or debate. 1
noun formal cause a principle, ideal, goal, or movement to which a person or group is dedicated: the Socialist cause; the human rights cause. 1

before 1350

One of the 20% oldest English words

Middle English word dating back to 1350-1400

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 2% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer