causing
noun
Causing — the act of bringing some effect or event into existence
Definition
The act of causing something to happen
In depth
Causing names the act of bringing something about, of making an effect or event occur through one's own agency or influence. The word foregrounds the active, ongoing process of causation, the moment-by-moment work by which one thing produces another.
Origin
The word derives from 'cause,' from Latin causa, reason or motive, with the addition of the English '-ing' suffix marking ongoing or active process. Its grammatical form — a gerund, capable of functioning as both verb and noun — reflects English's flexible capacity to treat causation itself as a kind of substance, a thing happening in real time.
Usage examples
"The drought, by causing widespread crop failure, set off a chain of consequences no one had fully anticipated."
"She spent years wondering whether her silence had been, in its own quiet way, a form of causing harm."
"The engineers traced the malfunction back to a single faulty component, causing the entire system to fail."
How to use it
Causing is plain, functional vocabulary suited to nearly any register describing the active production of an effect. It pairs naturally with a direct object, making clear precisely what effect or event is being produced.
Related concepts
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