Proximate cause

Proximate cause
Cause Cause (k[add]z), n. [F. cause, fr. L. causa. Cf. {Cause}, v., {Kickshaw}.] 1. That which produces or effects a result; that from which anything proceeds, and without which it would not exist. [1913 Webster]

Cause is substance exerting its power into act, to make one thing begin to be. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

2. That which is the occasion of an action or state; ground; reason; motive; as, cause for rejoicing. [1913 Webster]

3. Sake; interest; advantage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

I did it not for his cause. --2 Cor. vii. 12. [1913 Webster]

4. (Law) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action. [1913 Webster]

5. Any subject of discussion or debate; matter; question; affair in general. [1913 Webster]

What counsel give you in this weighty cause! --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. The side of a question, which is espoused, advocated, and upheld by a person or party; a principle which is advocated; that which a person or party seeks to attain. [1913 Webster]

God befriend us, as our cause is just. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause. --Burke. [1913 Webster]

{Efficient cause}, the agent or force that produces a change or result.

{Final cause}, the end, design, or object, for which anything is done.

{Formal cause}, the elements of a conception which make the conception or the thing conceived to be what it is; or the idea viewed as a formative principle and co["o]perating with the matter.

{Material cause}, that of which anything is made.

{Proximate cause}. See under {Proximate}.

{To make common cause with}, to join with in purposes and aims. --Macaulay.

Syn: Origin; source; mainspring; motive; reason; incitement; inducement; purpose; object; suit; action. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • proximate cause — see cause 1 Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. proximate cause …   Law dictionary

  • Proximate cause — Proximate Prox i*mate, a. [L. proximatus, p. p. of proximare to come near, to approach, fr. proximus the nearest, nest, superl. of propior nearer, and prope, adv., near.] Nearest; next immediately preceding or following. Proximate ancestors. J. S …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • proximate cause — prox‧i‧mate cause [ˌprɒksmt ˈkɔːz ǁ ˌprɑːksmt ˈkɒːz] noun [countable] LAW the thing that is directly responsible for an event happening: • Pilots breaches of duty and negligence were a proximate cause of the plane crash. * * * proximate cause …   Financial and business terms

  • proximate cause — n a cause that directly or with no intervening agency produces an effect <whether the negligence was the proximate cause of the pneumonia (Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc.)> * * * a cause that immediately precedes and produces an effect …   Medical dictionary

  • Proximate cause — For the notion of proximate cause in other disciplines, see Proximate and ultimate causation. For causation in English law, see Causation in English law …   Wikipedia

  • proximate cause — That which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces injury, and without which the result would not have occurred. Wisniewski v. Great Atlantic & Pac. Tea Co., 226 Pa.Super. 574, 323 A.2d 744,… …   Black's law dictionary

  • proximate cause — noun : a cause that directly or with no mediate agency produces an effect; specifically : a cause arising out of a wrongdoer s negligence or conduct deemed under the rules of law applicable to the case and under the extent of his duty sufficient… …   Useful english dictionary

  • proximate cause — As an element of tort liability:–that cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have occurred. The primary moving cause, or the… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • proximate cause — The dominant and effective cause of an event or chain of events that results in a claim on an insurance policy. The loss must be caused directly, or as a result of a chain of events initiated, by an insured peril. For example, a policy covering… …   Big dictionary of business and management

  • proximate cause — noun An event which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces an injury, and without which the injury would not have occurred …   Wiktionary

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