Meaning & use

causation

noun·Academic

The relationship between a cause and its effect, where one event directly brings about another.

See it in a sentence

Scientists were careful to distinguish correlation from true causation in their study.

Proving causation in court requires showing the defendant's actions directly caused the harm.

A note on using this word

Causation is often confused with correlation; two events can occur together without one actually causing the other.

Words with a similar meaning

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