Etymograph

English

accusative

Accusative comes from Latin accūsō ‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’, and goes back to causa ‘cause, reason’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa1‘cause, reason’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsō1‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvus1next step skipped: Anglo-Norman accusatif
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusative1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1641accusative1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English accusative
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1641, Edward Dering: “This hath been a very accusative age.”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausaWiktionary, English accusative‘cause, reason’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsōWiktionary, English accusative‘to indict, accuse, arraign, charge’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccūsātīvusWiktionary, English accusativenext step skipped: Anglo-Norman accusatif
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accusativeWiktionary, English accusative
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1641accusativeWiktionary, English accusative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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 Wiktionary’s 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).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin causa ‘cause, reason’

because, cause, chose, chest, causal, inexcusable, excusable, causative, 24 more

through Latin accūsātīvus

syllabus, 6 more

Today it means

adj Producing accusations; in a manner that reflects a finding of fault or blame

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “accusative”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin causa / accusative

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