causality

noun

cau·​sal·​i·​ty kȯ-ˈza-lə-tē 

plural causalities

1

: a causal quality or agency

2

: the relation between a cause and its effect or between regularly correlated events or phenomena

Synonyms

• antecedent
• causation
• cause
• occasion
• reason

Examples of causality in a Sentence

Scientists found no causality between the events.

a supreme being is a being that, by definition, has no causality of its own

Recent Examples on the Web

Its operating premise—that prosperity breeds inflation—gets the causality exactly wrong. —Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025

If circumstances were otherwise, then perilous paradoxes could emerge: time machines could violate causality, matter could repel rather than attract, and even spacetime itself could be destabilized. —Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2025

While assigning causality to human behavior is about as useful an enterprise as trying to teach a dog how to cook waffles, a couple factors may have been instrumental in circumventing another election-year collapse. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2019

Correlation analysis does not infer causality here. —Mark Carey, The Athletic, 13 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin causālitāt- causālitās, from Late Latin causālis causal + Latin -itāt-, -itās -ity

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for causality

• equality
• frivolity
• sodality
• inequality
• jollity
• polity
• quality

Legal Definition

causality

noun

cau·​sal·​i·​ty kȯ-ˈza-lə-tē 

plural causalities

: the relationship between cause and effect