Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget
1. CONSTANCY OF SEQUENCE IN EVENTS
911 words | Chapter 36
#153. [Constant antecedent]. Cause.—N. cause, origin, source,
principle, element; occasioner[obs3], prime mover, primum mobile[Lat];
vera causa[Lat]; author &c. (producer) 164; mainspring; agent; leaven;
groundwork, foundation &c. (support) 215. spring, fountain, well, font;
fountainhead, spring head, wellhead; fons et origo[Lat], genesis;
descent &c. (paternity) 166; remote cause; influence. pivot, hinge,
turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum; key; proximate cause, causa
causans[Lat]; straw that breaks the camel's back. ground; reason,
reason why; why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation; final
cause &c. (intention) 620; les dessous des cartes[Fr]; undercurrents.
rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus,
seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule[obs3], radicle,
semen, sperm. nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed.
causality, causation; origination; production &c. 161. V. be the cause
&c. n of; originate; give origin to, give rise, to, give occasion to;
cause, occasion, sow the seeds of, kindle, suscitate[obs3]; bring on,
bring to bring pass, bring about; produce; create &c. 161; set up, set
afloat, set on foot; found, broach, institute, lay the foundation of;
lie at the root of. procure, induce, draw down, open the door to,
superinduce, evoke, entail, operate; elicit, provoke. conduce to &c.
(tend to) 176; contribute; have a hand in the pie, have a finger in the
pie; determine, decide, turn the scale; have a common origin; derive
its origin &c. (effect) 154. Adj. caused &c. v; causal, original;
primary, primitive, primordial; aboriginal; protogenal[obs3]; radical;
embryonic, embryotic[obs3]; in embryo, in ovo[Lat]; seminal, germinal;
at the bottom of; connate, having a common origin. Adv. because &c.
155; behind the scenes. Phr. causa latet vis est notissima [Lat][Ovid];
felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas [Lat][Vergil].
#154. [Constant sequent.] Effect.— N. effect, consequence;
aftergrowth[obs3], aftercome[obs3]; derivative, derivation; result;
resultant, resultance[obs3]; upshot, issue, denouement; end &c. 67;
development, outgrowth, fruit, crop, harvest, product, bud. production,
produce, work, handiwork, fabric, performance; creature, creation;
offspring, offshoot; firstfruits[obs3], firstlings; heredity,
telegony[obs3]; premices premises[obs3]. V. be the effect of &c. n.; be
due to, be owing to; originate in, originate from; rise -, arise, take
its rise spring from, proceed from, emanate from, come from, grow from,
bud from, sprout from, germinate from, issue from, flow from, result
from, follow from, derive its origin from, accrue from; come to, come
of, come out of; depend upon, hang upon, hinge upon, turn upon. take
the consequences, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. Adj. owing to;
resulting from &c. v.; derivable from; due to; caused by &c. 153;
dependent upon; derived from, evolved from; derivative; hereditary;
telegonous[obs3]. Adv. of course, it follows that, naturally,
consequently; as a consequence, in consequence; through, all along of,
necessarily, eventually. Phr. cela va sans dire[Fr], "thereby hangs a
tale" [Taming of the Shrew].
#155. [Assignment of cause] Attribution—N. attribution, theory,
etiology, ascription, reference to, rationale; accounting for &c. v;
palætiology,[1] imputation, derivation from. filiation[obs3],
affiliation; pedigree &c. (paternity) 166. explanation &c.
(interpretation) 522; reason why &c. (cause) 153. V. attribute to,
ascribe to, impute to, refer to, lay to, point to, trace to, bring home
to; put down to, set down to, blame; charge on, ground on; invest
with, assign as cause, lay at, the door of, father upon; account for,
derive from, point out the reason &c. 153; theorize; tell how it comes;
put the saddle on the right horse. Adj. attributed &c. v.; attributable
&c. v.; referable to, referrible to[obs3], due to, derivable from;
owing to &c. (effect) 154; putative; ecbatic[obs3]. Adv. hence, thence,
therefore, for, since, on account of, because, owing to; on that
account; from this cause, from that cause; thanks to, forasmuch as;
whence, propter hoc[Lat]. why? wherefore? whence? how comes it, how is
it, how happens it? how does it happen? in some way, in some such way;
somehow, somehow or other. Phr. that is why; hinc illae lachrymae
[Lat][Horace].
[1] Whewell History of the inductive Sciences, book xviii vol. iii.p.
397 (3d edit.).
#156. [Absence of assignable cause.] Chance.[2]—N. chance,
indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance
medley, random, luck, raccroc[obs3], casualty, contingence, adventure,
hit; fate &c. (necessity) 601; equal chance; lottery; tombola[obs3];
toss up &c. 621; turn of the table, turn of the cards; hazard of the
die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate; cast of the dice,
throw of the dice; heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune;
sortes[obs3], sortes Virgilianae[obs3]. probability, possibility, odds;
long odds, run of luck; accidentalness; main chance, odds on, favorable
odds. contingency, dependence (uncertainty) 475; situation
(circumstance) 8. statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of
Chances; bookmaking; assurance; speculation, gaming &c. 621. V. chance,
hap, turn up; fall to one's lot; be one's -fate &c. 601; stumble on
light upon; take one's chance &c. 621. Adj. casual, fortuitous,
accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused,
undetermined, indeterminate; random, statistical; possible &c. 470;
unintentional &c. 621. Adv. by chance, accidentally, by accident;
casually; perchance &c. (possibly) 470; for aught one knows; as good
would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck
would have it, as chance would have it; as it may be, as it may
chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen; as the case may be. Phr.
"grasps the skirts of happy chance" [Tennyson]; "the accident of an
accident" [Lord Thurlow]. "There but for the grace of God go I."
[2] The word Chance has two distinct meanings: the first, the absence
of assignable cause, as above; and the second, the absence of
design—for the latter see 621.
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