Impact vs Cause - What's the difference?
impact | cause |
The striking of one body against another; collision.
The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
(chiefly, medicine) A forced impinging.
A significant or strong influence; an effect.
To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.
(proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an on.
To collide or strike.
The source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.
* , chapter=5
, title= A goal, aim or principle, especially one which transcends purely selfish ends.
* Shakespeare
* Burke
(obsolete) Sake; interest; advantage.
* Bible, 2 Corinthians vii. 12
(obsolete) Any subject of discussion or debate; a matter; an affair.
* Shakespeare
(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.
To set off an event or action.
*
* {{quote-magazine, title=A better waterworks, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
To actively produce as a result, by means of force or authority.
* Bible, (w) vii.4
* , chapter=13
, title= To assign or show cause; to give a reason; to make excuse.
As nouns the difference between impact and cause
is that impact is the striking of one body against another; collision while cause is the source of, or reason for, an event or action; that which produces or effects a result.As verbs the difference between impact and cause
is that impact is to compress; to compact; to press or pack together while cause is to set off an event or action.impact
English
Noun
(en noun)- The hatchet cut the wood on impact .
- His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact , which caused numbness in his leg.
- His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
- Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.
Usage notes
* Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary. * The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above) * There are English speakers who are so ). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect'' and the verb sense with ''affect , which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)Derived terms
* impactful * impactive * impact statement * Western impactVerb
(en verb)- If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.
- ''I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
- When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.
Usage notes
Some authorities object to the verb sense of impact'', meaning "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on" or "to collide or strike". Although most .Derived terms
* impactorcause
English
Noun
(en noun)- Her wedding will be cause for celebration.
- They identified a burst pipe as the cause of the flooding.
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.}}
- God befriend us, as our cause is just.
- The part they take against me is from zeal to the cause .
- I did it not for his cause .
- What counsel give you in this weighty cause ?
Synonyms
* (source or reason) reason, sourceDerived terms
* because * causal * causality * causative * cause celebre * efficient cause * final cause * for cause (law) * formal cause * material causeSee also
* effectVerb
(caus)- 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.
citation, passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic
- I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days.
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.}}
- (Spenser)