Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (18701938). Rogets International Thesaurus. 1922.
Class I. Words Expressing Abstract Relations
Section VIII. Causation
1. Constancy of Sequence in Events
153. [Constant Antecedent.] Cause.
CAUSE, origin, source, principle, element; prime mover, primum mobile [L.], primordium [rare]; vera causa [L.], ultimate cause, Great First Cause; author (producer) [See Producer]; mainspring, agent; leaven; groundwork, foundation (support) [See Support].
SPRING, fountain, well, font; fountainhead, springhead, reservoir, headspring, wellspring, wellhead; fons et origo [L.], genesis; descent (paternity) [See Paternity]; remote cause; influence.
PIVOT, hinge, turning point, lever; key; heart, nucleus, hub, focus; proximate cause, causa causans [L.]; last straw that breaks the camels back. REASON, reason why; ground; why and wherefore [colloq.], rationale, occasion, derivation; final cause (intention) [See Intention]; les dessous des cartes [F.]; under-currents.
RUDIMENT, egg, germ, embryo, fetus or ftus, bud, root, radix, radical, radication [rare], etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, taproot, gemma, gemmule, radicle, semen, sperm.
NEST, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, breeding-place, hotbed.;
CAUSALITY, causation; origination; causative; production [See Production].
BE THE CAUSE OF &c. n.; originate; give origin to, give rise to, give occasion to; cause, occasion, sow the seeds of, kindle, suscitate [obs.]; bring on, bring to pass, bring about; produce; create [See Production]; set up, set afloat, set on foot; found, broach, institute, lay the foundation of; lie at the root of.
PROCURE, induce, draw down, open the door to, superinduce, evoke, entail, operate; elicit, provoke.
CONTRIBUTE; conduce to &c. (tend to) [See Tendency]; have a hand in; have a finger in the pie [colloq.]; determine, decide, turn the scale, have the deciding vote, have the final word; have a common origin; derive its origin (effect) [See Effect].
CAUSED &c. v.; causal, ætiological or etiological, original; primary, primitive, primordial; aboriginal; originative, generative, inceptive, productive, creative, constitutive, procreative, formative, demiurgic, protogenic, protogenal; radical; in embryo, embryonic, embryotic; in ovo [L.]; seminal, germinal; at the bottom of; connate, having a common origin.
FROM THE BEGINNING, in the first place, before everything; because [See Attribution]; behind the scenes.