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Cause vs Fault - What's the difference?

cause | fault |

As verbs the difference between cause and fault

is that cause is while fault is to criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.

As a noun fault is

a defect; something that detracts from perfection.

cause

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
    • Her wedding will be cause for celebration.
    They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
  • * , chapter=5
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.}}
  • A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
  • * Shakespeare
    • God befriend us, as our cause is just.
  • * Burke
    • The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause .
  • (obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
  • * Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
    • I did it not for his cause .
  • (obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
  • * Shakespeare
    • What counsel give you in this weighty cause ?
  • (legal) A suit or action in court; any legal process by which a party endeavors to obtain his claim, or what he regards as his right; case; ground of action.

    • Synonyms

    * (source or reason) reason, source

    Derived terms

    * because * causal * causality * causative * cause celebre * efficient cause * final cause * for cause (law) * formal cause * material cause

    See also

    * effect

    Verb

    (caus)
  • To set off an event or action.
  • *
    • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
    • , page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic
  • To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
  • * Bible, (w) vii.4
    • I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
  • * , chapter=13
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
  • To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
    • (Spenser)

    Derived terms

    * causation

    Statistics

    *

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * English control verbs ----

    fault

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A defect; something that detracts from perfection.
  • * Shakespeare
    • As patches set upon a little breach / Discredit more in hiding of the fault .
  • A mistake or error.
    • No!. This is my fault, not yours
  • A weakness of character; a failing.
    • For all her faults , she's a good person at heart.
  • A minor offense.
  • Blame; the responsibility for a mistake.
    • The fault lies with you.
  • (seismology) A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity.
  • (mining) In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam.
    • slate fault''', dirt '''fault , etc.
    (Raymond)
  • (tennis) An illegal serve.
  • (electrical) An abnormal connection in a circuit.
  • (obsolete) want; lack
  • * Shakespeare
    • one, it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend
  • (hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled, / With much ado, the cold fault clearly out.

    Derived terms

    * at fault * double fault * to a fault

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.
  • * Traditional song
    • For that I will not fault thee / But for humbleness exalt thee.
  • (geology) To fracture.
  • To commit a mistake or error.
  • (computing) To undergo a page fault.
  • * 2002 , Æleen Frisch, Essential system administration
    • When a page is read in, a few pages surrounding the faulted page are typically loaded as well in the same I/O operation in an effort to head off future page faults.