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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

case

/keɪs/
An actual event, situation, or fact.

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English cas, from Old French cas (“an event”), from Latin cāsus (“a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case”), perfect passive participle of cadō (“to fall, to drop”).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English case, from Old Northern French casse (compare Old French chasse (“box, chest, case”)), from Latin capsa (“box, bookcase”), from capiō (“to take, seize, hold”). Doublet of cash, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja, Asturian caxa, Portuguese caixa.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishcase
      • borrowedOld Northern Frenchcasse
        • inheritedLatincapsa “case”
          • inheritedProto-Italic*kapsos
            • derivedProto-Italic*kapjō
          • derivedProto-Indo-European*kap- “to take, grasp, hold”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishcas
      • borrowedOld Frenchcas
        • inheritedLatincāsus “event”
          • derivedLatincāssus “empty, hollow”
            • derivedLatincareō “to lack”
              • inheritedProto-Italic*kazēō “to lack”
                • derivedProto-Indo-European*ḱes- “to cut”

    Related: English cash (doublet), English chase (doublet), English chasse (doublet), Spanish caja, Asturian caxa, Portuguese caixa

    Words built on it: use case, business case

    Meanings

    noun
    1. An actual event, situation, or fact.
    2. A given condition or state.
    3. A specific matter or piece of work, specifically defined within a profession, usually in respect of a specific person and/or event; the set of tasks involved in addressing one such matter.
    4. An instance or event as a topic of study.
    5. A legal proceeding; a lawsuit or prosecution.
    6. A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
    verb
    1. To propose hypothetical cases.
    adj
    1. The last remaining card of a particular rank.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: case