What does causative mean?
'Causative' is a formal adjective describing something that acts as a cause or brings about an effect. In scientific and medical contexts it identifies the responsible factor — the causative agent of a disease, or the causative factor behind an accident. In linguistics, it has a specialized meaning: a causative verb expresses the idea of making or having someone else do something, as when 'She had the car repaired' means she arranged for the repair without doing it herself. English builds causative meanings in several ways, including verbs like 'make,' 'get,' and 'have,' as well as pairs such as 'rise' and 'raise,' where one form is simply the causative counterpart of the other. Derived from Latin via the idea of 'cause,' the word shares its root with familiar terms like 'accuse' and 'excuse.' Though rarely heard in casual conversation, it is indispensable in academic, legal, and technical writing where precision about responsibility and origin matters.
Acting as a cause; producing an effect or result.
"Smoking was found to be a causative factor in the development of the disease."
Common in medical, scientific, and legal writing.
Describing a verb or construction that expresses the subject causing someone or something to perform an action rather than performing it directly.
"In 'The manager made the team work late,' 'made' is a causative verb."
A technical term in linguistics and language teaching.
A causative verb or construction.
"English learners must master common causatives such as 'make,' 'have,' and 'get.'"
Used only for the grammatical sense, referring collectively to causative verbs or constructions.
"The textbook lists the most frequent causatives in spoken English."
When you say 'I had my hair cut,' you didn't cut it yourself — you used one of English's sneaky causative verbs to make someone else do it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of causative
'Causative' comes from Latin 'causativus', derived from 'causare' ('to cause'), which itself stems from 'causa' ('reason, cause'). It entered English in the early 17th century, borrowed through scholarly Latin usage. It belongs to a family of words sharing the Latin root 'causa', including 'cause,' 'accuse,' 'excuse,' and the compound 'because'.
Related word forms
How causative is actually used
'Causative' belongs chiefly to formal, academic, and technical registers — scientific writing, linguistics, medicine (as in 'causative agent' of a disease), and law. In everyday speech, speakers usually reach for simpler words like 'responsible for.' The grammatical sense is standard terminology in language teaching and linguistic analysis.
Easily confused with causative
'Causal' describes something relating to cause and effect generally, while 'causative' specifically describes a thing or grammatical form that actually brings about an effect.