because

because

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider.
Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi
Proto-Germanic *bi
Proto-West Germanic *bī
Old English bī
Middle English by
Proto-Italic *kaussā
Old Latin caussa
Latin causabor.
Old French causebor.
Middle English cause
Middle English bi cause
English because

    From Middle English bi cause, from bi (“by”) + cause, modelled on Old French par cause.

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation)
      • (weak form) IPA(key): /bɪkəz/
      • (strong form) IPA(key): /bɪˈkɒz/, /bɪˈkʌz/, (dated) /bɪˈkɔːz/, /bɪˈkɔːs/
      • (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): [bɪˈkɵz]
        • Audio (London):(file)
    • (General American)
      • (weak form) IPA(key): /bɪkəz/
      • (strong form) IPA(key): /biˈkɔz/, /biˈkʌz/, /bəˈkɔz/, /bəˈkʌz/, /bɪˈkɔz/, /bɪˈkʌz/
        • Audio:(file)
    • (father-bother merger)
      • (weak form) IPA(key): /bɪkəz/
      • (strong form) IPA(key): /bɪˈkɑz/
    • (General Australian)
      • (weak form) IPA(key): /bəˈkoːz/
      • (strong form) IPA(key): /biːˈkoːz/
    • (dialectal)
      • (weak form) IPA(key): /bɪkəz/
      • (strong form, obsolete) IPA(key): /bɪˈkeɪz/
    • Hyphenation: be‧cause
    • Rhymes: -ɒz, -ʌz, -ɔːz, -ɔːs

    Conjunction

      because

      1. By or for the cause that; on this account that; for the reason that.
        I hid myself because I was afraid.
        • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
          I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.
        • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
          In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
        • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
          “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It's absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.”  ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.
      2. As is known, inferred, or determined from the fact that.
        It must be broken, because I pressed the button and nothing happened.
        I don't think he is a nice person, because he yells at people for no reason.
      3. (obsolete) So that, in order that. [15th–17th c.]
        • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 2:
          Simon […] set the house on fire where he was born, because nobody should point at it.

      Synonyms

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      • Tok Pisin: bikos

      Translations

      Adverb

      because (not comparable)

      1. On account, for sake [with of].
        My life is ruined because of you!
      2. (obsolete) For the reason [with that].

      Derived terms

      Translations

      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
      Translations to be checked‌: "on account"

      Interjection

      because

      1. Used alone to refuse to provide a full answer to a question begun with "why", usually taken as an anapodoton of the elided full phrase "Because I said so".

      Translations

      Preposition

      because

      2. (colloquial, Internet slang) On account of, because of. [from 20th c. or before]
        He rejected me because revenge, I guess.
        It doesn't work because reasons.
        • 2013 November 19, Megan Garber, “English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet”, in The Atlantic‎[1]:
          You probably know it better, however, as explanation by way of Internet—explanation that maximizes efficiency and irony in equal measure. I'm late because YouTube. You're reading this because procrastination. As the language writer Stan Carey delightfully sums it up: “‘Because’ has become a preposition, because grammar.”

      Derived terms

      References

      • Bingham, Caleb (1808), “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book […] ‎[2], 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 74.
      • Grandgent, C[harles] H. (1899), “V. From Franklin to Lowell. A Century of New England Pronunciation”, in James Bright, editor, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America‎[3], volume 14, number 2, Baltimore: Modern Language Association of America, →DOI, →OCLC, page 237.
      • Hurd, Seth P. (1847), “Because”, in “False Pronunciation”, in A Grammatical Corrector; or, A Vocabulary of the Common Errors of Speech‎[4], Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co, →OCLC, page 78.
      • Glossa, volume 17 (1997), page 175: cf. Emonds 1976:175 on the analysis of Modern English because as a preposition introducing a clause

      French

      Etymology

        Borrowed from English because.

        Pronunciation

        Conjunction

        because

        1. (colloquial, uncommon) synonym of parce que (“because”)
          • 2010, Norbert de Roux, Mémoires fantasmées d'un canton ordinaire‎[5], Mon Petit Editeur, →ISBN, page 64:
            Je ne dis pas ça pour toi, à cause de ta tronche, mais because je suis hostile à toute forme de discrimination.
            I don't tell you this because of your face, but because I am against all forms of discrimination.

        Preposition

        because

        1. (colloquial, uncommon) synonym of à cause de (“because of”)
          La fenêtre était ouverte because la chaleur aoûtienne, si moite. ― The window was open because of the muggy August heat.
          • 1959, Léo Malet, chapter 1, in L’envahissant cadavre de la plaine Monceau:
            "Enfin, juste comme Mariette commence à redevenir un peu nerveuse, because ce poireautage mortel, l’inspecteur Fabre, qui guettait peut-être ce moment, s’amène et lui fait signe de le suivre."
            ‘Finally, just as Mariette starts to rebecome a little nervous because of this deadly wait, interpsector Fabre, who was maybe watching at that moment, comes along and gives her hope for survival.’
          • 2020 March 4, Serge Toubiana, chapter 29, in L’amie américaine‎[6], Stock, →ISBN, page 221:
            Après un séjour à New York, qui lui a fait le plus grand bien, Helen se rend compte que la vie parisienne lui convient tout de même mieux, du fait de ses problèmes de santé — poids, hypertension… « En somme, quelle que soit l’alternative que je choisis, je suis désormais condamnée à la nostalgie permanente, vivace et stimulée à New York, mais because hypertension, la détente à Paris est peut-être préférable¹⁴. »
            After a trip to New York, which did the greatest good for her, Helen realises that Parisian life suits her better anyway due to her health problems: weight, hypertension… ‘In sum, whatever the alternative that I choose, I am henceforth condemned to permanent nostalgia, vivacious and stimulated at New York, but because of hypertension, maybe relaxing in Paris is preferable.’
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