Standard Lemma guide

causative

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɔːzətɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: kôʹzə-tĭv
  • General-American: /ˈkɔzətɪv/
  • General-American: [ˈkɔ.zə.ɾɪv]
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈkɑzətɪv/
  • cot-caught-merger: [ˈkɑ.zə.ɾɪv]
  • Australian: /ˈkoːzətɪv/
  • Australian: [ˈkoː.zə.ɾɪv]
  • rhymes with -ɔːzətɪv
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 Z AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: K AO1 Z AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Acting as a cause.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Involving, or affected by, causality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • Such statistical analysis can establish correlation but cannot tell us whether the correlation is proximally causative, distally causative, or noncausative.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Expressing a cause or causation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • The ablative is a causative case.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action (or to be in a certain condition).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

producing an effect

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • poverty as a causative factor in crime

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: noncausative

History

Etymology

From French causatif, from Latin causātīvus (“causative, pertaining to a lawsuit, accusative”), from causa (“cause”); see cause (verb) and -ive.

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: causatiu — acting as a cause
  • Finnish: aiheuttava — acting as a cause
  • Hungarian: okozó — acting as a cause
  • Hungarian: előidéző — acting as a cause
  • Hungarian: eredményező — acting as a cause
  • Hungarian: okot képező — acting as a cause
  • Ido: kauzala — acting as a cause
  • Korean: 원인이 되는 (wonini doeneun) — acting as a cause
  • Polish: przyczynowy — acting as a cause
  • Spanish: causativo — acting as a cause
  • Armenian: պատճառական (patčaṙakan) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Catalan: causatiu — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 使動 /使动 (shǐdòng) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Finnish: kausatiivinen — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • French: causatif — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Georgian: კაუზატიური (ḳauzaṭiuri) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Hungarian: műveltető — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Ido: kauziganta — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Japanese: 使役 (shieki) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Kazakh: өзгелік (özgelık) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Korean: 사역 (sayeok) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Mongolian: үйлдүүлэх (üjldüülex) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Mongolian: ᠦᠢᠯᠡᠳᠦᠭᠦᠯᠬᠦ (üiledügülkü) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Polish: kauzatywny — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Tamil: பிறவினை (piṟaviṉai) — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Welsh: achosol — linguistics: expressing cause or causation
  • Aragonese: causetivo — linguistics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 使役 (shǐyì) — linguistics
  • Finnish: kausatiivi — linguistics
  • French: causatif — linguistics
  • French: factitif — linguistics
  • Georgian: კაუზატივი (ḳauzaṭivi) — linguistics
  • German: Kausativ — linguistics
  • Greek: αίτιος (aítios) — linguistics
  • Hungarian: műveltetés — linguistics
  • Icelandic: orsakasögn — linguistics
  • Japanese: 使役 (shieki) — linguistics
  • Kazakh: өзгелік етіс (özgelık etıs) — linguistics
  • Korean: 사동 (sadong) — linguistics
  • Polish: causativum — linguistics
  • Russian: побуди́тельный зало́г (pobudítelʹnyj zalóg) — linguistics
  • Russian: понуди́тельный зало́г (ponudítelʹnyj zalóg) — linguistics
  • Russian: каузати́вный зало́г (kauzatívnyj zalóg) — linguistics
  • Russian: каузати́в (kauzatív) — linguistics
  • Swedish: kausativ — linguistics
  • Tamil: பிறவினை (piṟaviṉai) — linguistics
  • Turkish: faktitif — linguistics
  • Volapük: jenükamavärb — linguistics
  • Welsh: achosair — linguistics