different between pith vs cause
pith
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English pith, pithe, from Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô (compare West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”), Dutch peen (“carrot”), Low German Peddik (“pulp, core”)), from earlier *piþ? (oblique *pittan). Doublet of pit. The verb meaning "to kill by cutting or piercing the spinal cord" is attested 1805.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /p??/
- Rhymes: -??
Noun
pith (usually uncountable, plural piths)
- (botany) The soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees.
- The spongy interior substance of a feather or horn.
- (anatomy) The spinal cord; the marrow.
- (botany) The albedo of a citrus fruit.
- (figuratively) The essential or vital part; force; energy; importance.
- 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 144]:
- The clothesline surrendered the pith of its soul, and Kathleen's stockings, hung at the wide end, now suggested lust.
- 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 144]:
- (figuratively) Power, strength, might.
Synonyms
- (essential or necessary part): core, essence, general tenor, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance; See also Thesaurus:gist
Related terms
- pith helmet
- pithy
- pith and substance
Translations
Verb
pith (third-person singular simple present piths, present participle pithing, simple past and past participle pithed)
- (transitive) To extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).
- (transitive) To kill (especially cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing the spinal cord.
Etymology 2
From pi (“number 3.14159...”) +? -th.
Alternative forms
- pi-th
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pa??/
Adjective
pith (not comparable)
- The ordinal form of the number pi.
Translations
Noun
pith (plural piths)
- One divided by pi.
Translations
Anagrams
- phit
Middle English
Alternative forms
- pithe, piþ, piþþe, pyþe, peþe, pyth, pythe
Etymology
From Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?pi?(?)/, /?pið(?)/, /?pe??(?)/
Noun
pith (uncountable)
- The soft interior portion of something, especially:
- (botany) pith (soft substance in the center of a plant's stem)
- The pulp (soft innards) of a fruit.
- (figuratively) The essential or vital part; importance.
- (figuratively) Power, strength, might.
Descendants
- English: pith
- Scots: pith
References
- “pith(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
pith From the web:
- what pithy mean
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- what pithoragarh is famous for
- what pith ball
- what's pith in spanish
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- what pith is used for
cause
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)
- (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
- (uncountable, especially with for and a bare noun) Sufficient reason for a state, as of emotion.
- Synonyms: grounds, justification
- (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
- 1796, Edmund Burke, a letter to a noble lord
- (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
- I did it not for his cause.
- (countable, obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
- (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)
- (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.
- (ditransitive) To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
- 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
- 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)
- cause
- Antonym: conséquence
- (law) case (a legal proceeding)
Derived terms
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the main entry.
Verb
cause
- inflection of causer:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 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
- plural of causa
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French cause.
Noun
cause (plural causes)
- cause
- 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
- He knew the cause of everich maladye
- He knew the cause of every illness
- He knew the cause of everich maladye
- 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
Descendants
- English: cause
Norman
Etymology
From Old French cause, borrowed from Latin causa.
Noun
cause f (plural causes)
- (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)
- cause
Descendants
- Middle English: cause
- English: cause
- Middle French: cause
- French: cause
- Norman: cause
Portuguese
Verb
cause
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of causar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of causar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of causar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of causar
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?kause/, [?kau?.se]
Verb
cause
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of causar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of causar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of causar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of causar.
cause From the web:
- what causes hiccups
- what causes high blood pressure
- what causes kidney stones
- what causes hemorrhoids
- what caused the great depression
- what causes diarrhea
- what causes canker sores
- what causes vertigo
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