different between right vs cause

English

Alternative forms

• reight (Yorkshire)
• rite (informal)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: r?t, IPA^(key): /??a?t/
• (General American) enPR: r?t, IPA^(key): /??a?t/, [??a??(t?)]
• (adverb: exactly; immediately):

  (dialectal, includes Western Canada, Northern England, Midlands) IPA^(key): /??e?t/, [??e??t?]

• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophones: rite, wright, Wright, write, rate (dialectal; certain senses only)

Etymology 1

From Middle English right, ri?t, re?t, from Old English riht, ryht, reht (“right”), from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz (“right, direct”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?re?tós (“having moved in a straight line”), from *h?re?- (“to straighten, direct”). An Indo-European past participle, it became a Germanic adjective which has been used also as a noun since the common Germanic period. Cognate with West Frisian rjocht, Dutch recht, German recht and Recht, Swedish rätt and rät, Danish ret, Norwegian Bokmål rett, Norwegian Nynorsk rett, and Icelandic rétt. The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ??????? (orektós) and Latin r?ctus; Albanian drejt was borrowed from Latin.

Adjective

right (comparative righter or more right, superlative rightest or rightmost)

1. (archaic) Straight, not bent.

   a right line

2. (geometry) Of an angle, having a size of 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation; the angle between two perpendicular lines.

   The kitchen counter formed a right angle with the back wall.

3. (geometry) Of a geometric figure, incorporating a right angle between edges, faces, axes, etc.

   a right triangle, a right prism, a right cone

4. Complying with justice, correctness or reason; correct, just, true.

   I thought you'd made a mistake, but it seems you were right all along.

   It's not right that one person gets all the credit for the group's work.

   • 1610, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding/Book II

     If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is certainly right, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."

   • 1808, Bishop Joseph Hall, Devotional works

     there are some dispositions blame-worthy in men, which are yet, in a right sense, holily ascribed unto God; as unchangeableness, and irrepentance.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Chapter 13

     What do you send me into London for, giving me only the right to call for my dinner at the Black Lion, which you’re to pay for next time you go, as if I was not to be trusted with a few shillings? Why do you use me like this? It’s not right of you. You can’t expect me to be quiet under it.

   • January 4 2018, Catherine Ford in the Calgary Herald, Religious-based health care raises ethical questions

     But when that patient requests access to medical care that violates some religious tenet, is it right that he or she either be denied outright or forced to seek an alternative facility?

6. Appropriate, perfectly suitable; fit for purpose.

   Is this the right software for my computer?

7. Healthy, sane, competent.

   I'm afraid my father is no longer in his right mind.

8. Real; veritable (used emphatically).

   You've made a right mess of the kitchen!

   • 2016, Sarah Harvey, A Laugh-out-loud Modern Love Story

     He's got a wicked sense of fun, he can be a right laugh, he's ever so broadminded – ooh, and he's got a lovely broad chest too.

   • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain

     […] in this battle and whole business the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians: no rule, no foresight, no forecast, experience, or estimation

9. (Australia) All right; not requiring assistance.
   • 1986 David Williamson, "What If You Died Tomorrow," Collected plays, Volume 1, Currency Press, p310

     KIRSTY: I suppose you're hungry. Would you like something to eat? / KEN: No. I'm right, thanks.

   • 2001 Catherine Menagé, Access to English, National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, NSW: Sydney, p25

     When the sales assistant sees the customer, she asks Are you right, sir? This means Are you all right? She wants to know if he needs any help.

   • 2001 Morris Gleitzman, Two weeks with the Queen, Pan Macmillan Australia, p75

     'You lost?' / Colin spun round. Looking at him was a nurse, her eyebrows raised. / 'No, I'm right, thanks,' said Colin.'

10. (dated) Most favourable or convenient; fortunate.
    • c. 1707 Joseph Adsison, The Tatler

      The lady has been disappointed on the right side.

11. Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north. This arrow points to the reader's right: ?

    After the accident, her right leg was slightly shorter than her left.

12. Designed to be placed or worn outward.

    the right side of a piece of cloth

13. (politics) Pertaining to the political right; conservative.

Synonyms

• (correctness): correct, just
• (side, direction): dexter, dextral, right-hand
• (politics): conservative, right-wing
• (as a tag question): see Appendix:English tag questions

Antonyms

• (straightness): bowed, crooked, curved
• (correctness): wrong
• (side, direction): left

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Descendants

• ? Spanish: right
• ? Welsh: reit

Etymology 2

From Middle English right, righte, from Old English rihte, rehte (“right; rightly; due; directly; straight”), from Proto-Germanic *rehta, from *rehtaz (“right; straight”).

Adverb

right (not comparable)

1. On the right side.
2. Towards the right side.
3. Exactly, precisely.
4. Immediately, directly.

5. (Britain, US, dialect) Very, extremely, quite.
6. According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really.
7. In a correct manner.

8. (dated, still used in some titles) To a great extent or degree.

Usage notes

In the US, the word "right" is used as an adverb meaning "very, quite" in most of the major dialect areas, including the Southern US, Appalachia, New England, and the Midwest, though the usage is not part of standard US English. In the UK also it is not part of the standard language but is regarded as stereotypical of the dialects of northern England, though it occurs in other dialects also.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:right.

Synonyms

• (on the right side): rightward, rightwise
• (towards the right side): rightward, rightways
• (exactly, precisely): exactly, just, precisely, smack-dab; see also Thesaurus:exactly
• (immediately, directly): right smack, slap-bang
• (very, extremely): ever so; see also Thesaurus:very
• (according to fact or truth): in point of fact, in truth; see also Thesaurus:actually
• (correct manner): correctly, properly

Derived terms

• right away
• right now
• right quick
• right smart

Related terms

• downright
• upright

Translations

Interjection

right

1. Yes, that is correct; I agree.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Tell her you’re here. — Right, thanks, Pete.

2. I agree with whatever you say; I have no opinion.
3. Signpost word to change the subject in a discussion or discourse.

   - After that interview, I don't think we should hire her.
   - Right — who wants lunch?

5. Used to check agreement at the end of an utterance.

   You're going, right?

6. Used to add seriousness or decisiveness before a statement.
   • 1987, Withnail and I:

     Withnail: Right ... I'm gonna do the washing up.

Translations

Derived terms

• yeah right

Etymology 3

From Middle English right, righte, reght, reghte, ri?t, ri?te, from Old English riht, reht, ?eriht (“that which is right, just, or proper; a right; due; law; canon; rule; direction; justice; equity; standard”), from Proto-West Germanic *reht, from Proto-Germanic *reht? (“a right”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?re?tom, from Proto-Indo-European *h?re?t- (“to straighten; direct”). Cognate with Dutch recht (“a right; privilege”), German Recht (“a right”).

Noun

right (plural rights)

1. That which complies with justice, law or reason.

2. A legal, just or moral entitlement.
   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk

     There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties.
3. The right side or direction.

4. The right hand or fist.
5. The authority to perform, publish, film, or televise a particular work, event, etc.; a copyright.
6. (politics) The ensemble of right-wing political parties; political conservatives as a group.

7. The outward or most finished surface, as of a coin, piece of cloth, a carpet, etc.
8. (surfing) A wave breaking from right to left (viewed from the shore).

   Antonym: left

Synonyms

• (right side): starboard, 3 o'clock

Antonyms

• (legal or moral entitlement): duty, obligation

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English righten, reghten, ri?ten, from Old English rihtan, ?erihtan (“to straighten, judge, set upright, set right”), from Proto-West Germanic *rihtijan, from Proto-Germanic *rihtijan? (“to straighten; rectify; judge”).

Verb

right (third-person singular simple present rights, present participle righting, simple past and past participle righted)

1. (transitive) To correct.

2. (transitive) To set upright.

3. (intransitive) To return to normal upright position.

4. (transitive) To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of.
   • c. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III

     So just is God, to right the innocent.

   • 1776, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Declaration of Independence

     All experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Derived terms

• aright
• beright
• eright
• unright

Translations

Further reading

• right at OneLook Dictionary Search
• right in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• girth, grith

Middle English

Alternative forms

• re?t, ri?te, ri?t, ry?t, ryght, righte, riht

Etymology

From Old English riht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rixt/, [riçt]
• Rhymes: -ixt

Noun

right (plural rightes or righten)

1. A good deed, right action
2. A just or equitable action
3. A law, ruling, judgement or rule
4. A right, entitlement or privilege
5. Truth, correctness
6. right (direction; as opposed to the left)

Descendants

• English: right
  • ? Spanish: right
  • ? Welsh: reit
  • Northumbrian: reet
• Scots: richt

References

• “right, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.

Adjective

right (plural and weak singular righte, comparative rightre, superlative rightest)

1. straight, not bent
2. On the or at the right (as opposed to left)
3. Morally correct or justified
4. Legally correct or justified
5. real, genuine, authentic, true
6. natural, undisturbed

Related terms

• rightful

Descendants

• English: right
  • ? Spanish: right
  • ? Welsh: reit
• Scots: richt
• Yola: reicht, riaught

References

• “right, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-18.

Spanish

Etymology

From English right fielder.

Noun

right m (plural rights)

1. (baseball) right fielder

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.