English
accusative
Accusative comes from Latin accūsō ‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’, and goes back to causa ‘cause, reason’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa‘cause, reason’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsō‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvusnext step skipped: Anglo-Norman accusatif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusative
- Englishearliest quotation 1641accusative
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa‘cause, reason’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsō‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvusnext step skipped: Anglo-Norman accusatif
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusative
- Englishearliest quotation 1641accusative
Earliest quotation: 1641, Edward Dering: “This hath been a very accusative age.”
Formed from accuse + -ative
Latin causa ‘cause, reason’
Latin accūsāre
Old French acuser ‘to accuse’
Middle English acusen
English accuse
first attested First attested in the mid 15th century (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in the mid 15th century. The Latin form is a mistranslation of the Ancient Greek grammatical term αἰτιᾱτική (aitiātikḗ, “expressing an effect”). This term actually comes from αἰτιᾱτός (aitiātós, “caused”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, adjective suffix), but was reanalyzed as coming from αἰτιᾱ- (aitiā-), the stem of the verb αἰτιάομαι (aitiáomai, “to blame”), + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, verbal adjective suffix).
Linked words
through Latin causa ‘cause, reason’
because, cause, chose, chest, causal, inexcusable, excusable, causative, 24 more
through Latin accūsātīvus
Today it means
adj Producing accusations; in a manner that reflects a finding of fault or blame
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin causa / accusative