different between cause vs inspiration

English

Etymology

From Middle English cause, borrowed from Old French cause (“a cause, a thing”), from Latin causa (“reason, sake, cause”), in Middle English also "a thing". Origin uncertain. See accuse, excuse, recuse, ruse. Displaced native Middle English sake (“cause, reason”) (from Old English sacu (“cause”)), Middle English andweorc, andwork (“matter, cause”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, thing, cause”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôz, IPA^(key): /k??z/, [k?o?z?]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?z/, [k???z?]
• Rhymes: -??z
• Homophones: caws, 'cause; cores (non-rhotic dialects)

Noun

cause (countable and uncountable, plural causes)

1. (countable, often with of, typically of adverse results) The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cause

2. (uncountable, especially with for and a bare noun) Sufficient reason for a state, as of emotion.

   Synonyms: grounds, justification

3. (countable) A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
   • 1796, Edmund Burke, a letter to a noble lord

     The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:goal

4. (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.

   • I did it not for his cause.

5. (countable, obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
6. (countable, 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.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• effect

Verb

cause (third-person singular simple present causes, present participle causing, simple past and past participle caused)

1. (transitive) To set off an event or action.

   • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
2. (ditransitive) To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.

   • I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
3. To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Derived terms

• causation
• causer

Translations

Further reading

• cause at OneLook Dictionary Search
• cause in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• cause in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• -sauce, sauce

Asturian

Verb

cause

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of causar

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koz/
• Homophones: causent, causes

Etymology 1

From Old French cause, borrowed from Classical Latin causa. Compare chose, an inherited doublet.

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. cause

   Antonym: conséquence

2. (law) case (a legal proceeding)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

cause

1. inflection of causer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cause” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• sauce, sceau

Italian

Noun

cause f pl

1. plural of causa

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French cause.

Noun

cause (plural causes)

1. cause
   • 14^th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue

     He knew the cause of everich maladye

     He knew the cause of every illness

Descendants

• English: cause

Norman

Etymology

From Old French cause, borrowed from Latin causa.

Noun

cause f (plural causes)

1. (Jersey, law) case

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin causa, whence the inherited chose.

Noun

cause f (oblique plural causes, nominative singular cause, nominative plural causes)

1. cause

Descendants

• Middle English: cause
  • English: cause
• Middle French: cause
  • French: cause
• Norman: cause

Portuguese

Verb

cause

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of causar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of causar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of causar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of causar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kause/, [?kau?.se]

Verb

cause

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of causar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of causar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of causar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of causar.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French inspiration, from Late Latin ?nsp?r?ti?nem (nominative: ?nsp?r?ti?), from Latin ?nsp?r?tus (past participle of insp?r?).Morphologically inspire +? -ation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nsp???e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

inspiration (countable and uncountable, plural inspirations)

1. (physiology, uncountable) The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of respiration.
2. (countable) A breath, a single inhalation.
   • 1826, John Bostock, An Elementary System of Physiology, p. 220:

     Laughing is produced by an inspiration succeeded by a succession of short imperfect expirations.
3. A supernatural divine influence on the prophets, apostles, or sacred writers, by which they were qualified to communicate moral or religious truth with authority; a supernatural influence which qualifies people to receive and communicate divine truth; also, the truth communicated.
   • 1688, Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, The History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches Vol.2 (1829 translation), p. 355:

     The question, therefore, at issue is, not whether those external means be sufficient without grace and divine inspiration, for none pretends that": but, in order to hinder men from feigning or imagining an inspiration, whether it has not been God's economy, and his usual conduct to make his inspiration walk hand in hand with certain means of fact, which men can neither feign in the air without being convicted of falsehood, nor imagine without illusion.

   • 1971, Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150—750, Thames & Hudson LTD (2013 reprint), ?ISBN, page 54.

     The more strongly people felt about their ideas, the more potent the demons seemed to them: Christians believed that traditional paganism, far from being the work of men, was an 'opium of the masses', pumped into the human race by the non-human demons; and one scholar even ascribed bad reviews of his book to demonic inspiration!

4. The act of an elevating or stimulating influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity.

   Usage notes: In this sense, it may be followed by the adposition to in relation to the person being influenced, and for or to in relation to the idea or activity:

   • 1865, George Duffield, The Nation's Wail, p. 6:

     We caught the inspiration of his joy; and imagination painted a glorious future near at hand for our land, quickly to develop itself under the guidance of his fostering wisdom, and fraternal counsels and care.

   • 1998, David Allen Brown, Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius, p. 25:

     All this suggests that Andrea may, like the authors of the devotional panel, the fresco, and the print – and like Leonardo, as we shall see – have found his inspiration in Pollaiuolo.

   • 2002, Sven Rasegård, Man and Science: A Web of Systems and Social Conventions, p. 2:

     And now it is time for problem solving which, if successful, will create new ideas serving as an inspiration source for future research objects of the researcher in question as well as other researchers within the same field.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 1 September 2013:

     As for United, this was a performance lacking in inspiration, purpose and threat and once again underlined the urgency for transfer business to be done in the closing hours of the transfer window.

5. A person, object, or situation which quickens or stimulates an influence upon the intellect, emotions or creativity.
   • 2008 April 5, George W. Bush, Presidential Radio Address:

     The people of Ukraine and Georgia are an inspiration to the world, and I was pleased that this week NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO.

6. A new idea, especially one which arises suddenly and is clever or creative.
   • 1916, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, Mrs. Balfame, ch. 15:

     Mrs. Balfame had an inspiration. "My God!" she exclaimed, springing to her feet, "the murderer . . . was hidden in the cellar or attic all night, all the next day! He may be here yet!"

   • 2007 July 1, Sylviane Gold, "Scenery Chewer Plays It Straight, Methodically," New York Times (retrieved 3 Sept. 2013):

     [H]e accompanied her to a rehearsal of a skit satirizing “Casablanca,” and the director had an inspiration: Wouldn’t it be a laugh to cast a 10-year-old as Rick?

Synonyms

• (physiology): inhalation
• (stimulation of creativity or intellect): spark, flash, eureka

Antonyms

• (physiology): expiration

Derived terms

Related terms

• inspire

Translations

See also

• Muse
• Pierian spring

References

• inspiration in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

From Old French inspiration, borrowed from Late Latin ?nsp?r?ti?nem (nominative: ?nsp?r?ti?), from Latin ?nsp?r?tus (past participle of insp?r?).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??s.pi.?a.sj??/

Noun

inspiration f (plural inspirations)

1. inspiration (instance of breathing in)
2. inspiration (divine intervention)
3. inspiration (something which brings about creativity or perseverance)

See also

• inspirer

Further reading

• “inspiration” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative: inspiratio), from Latin inspiratus (past participle of insp?r?).

Noun

inspiration f (oblique plural inspirations, nominative singular inspiration, nominative plural inspirations)

1. inspiration (act of breathing in)
2. inspiration (something which inspires)

Descendants

• ? English: inspiration
• French: inspiration

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (inspiracion)