FIRST CAUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does first cause mean? 

• FIRST CAUSE (noun)
  The noun FIRST CAUSE has 1 sense:

1. an agent that is the cause of all things but does not itself have a cause

  Familiarity information: FIRST CAUSE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIRST CAUSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An agent that is the cause of all things but does not itself have a cause

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

first cause; prime mover; primum mobile

Context example:

God is the first cause

Hypernyms ("first cause" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

 Context examples 

The two young men were the only talkers, but they, standing by the fire, talked over the too common neglect of the qualification, the total inattention to it, in the ordinary school-system for boys, the consequently natural, yet in some instances almost unnatural, degree of ignorance and uncouthness of men, of sensible and well-informed men, when suddenly called to the necessity of reading aloud, which had fallen within their notice, giving instances of blunders, and failures with their secondary causes, the want of management of the voice, of proper modulation and emphasis, of foresight and judgment, all proceeding from the first cause: want of early attention and habit; and Fanny was listening again with great entertainment.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)