"root cause" meaning in English

See root cause in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-root cause.ogg [Australia] Forms: root causes [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} root cause (plural root causes)
  1. (idiomatic) An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: bottom Derived forms: RCA Translations (initiating cause): سَبَب جِذْرِيّ (sabab jiḏriyy) [masculine] (Arabic), سَبَب أَسَاسِيّ (sabab ʔasāsiyy) [masculine] (Arabic), төп сәбәп (tüp säbäp) (Bashkir), першапрычы́на (pjeršapryčýna) [feminine] (Belarusian), първопричи́на (părvopričína) [feminine] (Bulgarian), 根本原因 (gēnběn yuányīn) (Chinese Mandarin), prvotní příčina [feminine] (Czech), prapříčina [feminine] (Czech), grondoorzaak [feminine] (Dutch), perussyy (Finnish), juurisyy (Finnish), cause racine [feminine] (French), ძირეული მიზეზი (ʒireuli mizezi) (Georgian), Grundursache [feminine] (German), frumorsök [feminine] (Icelandic), causa ultima [feminine] (Italian), causa scatenante [feminine] (Italian), 根本原因 (konpon gen'in) (alt: こんぽんげんいん) (Japanese), 근본 원인 (geunbon wonin) (alt: 根本原因) (Korean), ard-oyr [masculine] (Manx), pierwotna przyczyna [feminine] (Polish), первопричи́на (pervopričína) [feminine] (Russian), grundorsak [common-gender] (Swedish), першопричи́на (peršopryčýna) [feminine] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-root_cause-en-noun-gsS28pBD Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Bashkir translations, Terms with Belarusian translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Georgian translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Icelandic translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Manx translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Ukrainian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 49 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Bashkir translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Belarusian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Georgian translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Icelandic translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with Manx translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Ukrainian translations: 52 48

Verb

Audio: En-au-root cause.ogg [Australia] Forms: root causes [present, singular, third-person], root causing [participle, present], root caused [participle, past], root caused [past], root-cause [alternative]
Head templates: {{en-verb}} root cause (third-person singular simple present root causes, present participle root causing, simple past and past participle root caused)
  1. (transitive) To identify the cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-root_cause-en-verb-gtH7HmLd Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Bashkir translations, Terms with Belarusian translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Georgian translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Icelandic translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Manx translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Ukrainian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 49 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 51 49 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Bashkir translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Belarusian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Georgian translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Icelandic translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 50 50 Disambiguation of Terms with Manx translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 51 49 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Terms with Ukrainian translations: 52 48

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "root causes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "root cause (plural root causes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bashkir translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Belarusian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Manx translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "RCA"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              36,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2021 September 22, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Hitachi cracks due to fatigue and corrosion”, in RAIL, number 940, page 22:",
          "text": "However, the report finds that the \"root cause has not yet been established\".",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "id": "en-root_cause-en-noun-gsS28pBD",
      "links": [
        [
          "cause",
          "cause"
        ],
        [
          "chain",
          "chain"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "effect",
          "effect"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "bottom"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "lang_code": "ar",
          "roman": "sabab jiḏriyy",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "سَبَب جِذْرِيّ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "lang_code": "ar",
          "roman": "sabab ʔasāsiyy",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "سَبَب أَسَاسِيّ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ba",
          "lang": "Bashkir",
          "lang_code": "ba",
          "roman": "tüp säbäp",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "төп сәбәп"
        },
        {
          "code": "be",
          "lang": "Belarusian",
          "lang_code": "be",
          "roman": "pjeršapryčýna",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "першапрычы́на"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "lang_code": "bg",
          "roman": "părvopričína",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "първопричи́на"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "roman": "gēnběn yuányīn",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "根本原因"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "prvotní příčina"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "prapříčina"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "grondoorzaak"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "perussyy"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "juurisyy"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "cause racine"
        },
        {
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "lang_code": "ka",
          "roman": "ʒireuli mizezi",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "ძირეული მიზეზი"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Grundursache"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "lang_code": "is",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "frumorsök"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "causa ultima"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "causa scatenante"
        },
        {
          "alt": "こんぽんげんいん",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "lang_code": "ja",
          "roman": "konpon gen'in",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "根本原因"
        },
        {
          "alt": "根本原因",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "lang_code": "ko",
          "roman": "geunbon wonin",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "word": "근본 원인"
        },
        {
          "code": "gv",
          "lang": "Manx",
          "lang_code": "gv",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ard-oyr"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "pierwotna przyczyna"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "pervopričína",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "первопричи́на"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "lang_code": "sv",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "grundorsak"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "lang_code": "uk",
          "roman": "peršopryčýna",
          "sense": "initiating cause",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "першопричи́на"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-root cause.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg/En-au-root_cause.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "root cause"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "root causes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root causing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root caused",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root caused",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root-cause",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "root cause (third-person singular simple present root causes, present participle root causing, simple past and past participle root caused)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bashkir translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Belarusian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Czech translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Manx translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              61,
              73
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2017, Charles Protzman, Joyce Kerpchar, George Mayzell, Leveraging Lean in Ancillary Hospital Services, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 108:",
          "text": "Fishbones are a great tool for collecting, categorizing, and root-causing feedback from staff.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              116,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018, Prabhat Mishra, Farimah Farahmandi, chapter 1, in Post-Silicon Validation and Debug, Springer, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "After the effect of the bug is observed using post-silicon tests, the next step is to localize the source of error, root-cause bugs, and fix them.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To identify the cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "id": "en-root_cause-en-verb-gtH7HmLd",
      "links": [
        [
          "identify",
          "identify"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause"
        ],
        [
          "chain",
          "chain"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "effect",
          "effect"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To identify the cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-root cause.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg/En-au-root_cause.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "root cause"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Bashkir translations",
    "Terms with Belarusian translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Georgian translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Icelandic translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Manx translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "RCA"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "root causes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "root cause (plural root causes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              36,
              46
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2021 September 22, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Hitachi cracks due to fatigue and corrosion”, in RAIL, number 940, page 22:",
          "text": "However, the report finds that the \"root cause has not yet been established\".",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "cause",
          "cause"
        ],
        [
          "chain",
          "chain"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "effect",
          "effect"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "bottom"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-root cause.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg/En-au-root_cause.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ar",
      "roman": "sabab jiḏriyy",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "سَبَب جِذْرِيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "lang_code": "ar",
      "roman": "sabab ʔasāsiyy",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "سَبَب أَسَاسِيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ba",
      "lang": "Bashkir",
      "lang_code": "ba",
      "roman": "tüp säbäp",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "төп сәбәп"
    },
    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "lang_code": "be",
      "roman": "pjeršapryčýna",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "першапрычы́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "roman": "părvopričína",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "първопричи́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "roman": "gēnběn yuányīn",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "根本原因"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "prvotní příčina"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "prapříčina"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "grondoorzaak"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "perussyy"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "juurisyy"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "cause racine"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "lang_code": "ka",
      "roman": "ʒireuli mizezi",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "ძირეული მიზეზი"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Grundursache"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "lang_code": "is",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "frumorsök"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "causa ultima"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "causa scatenante"
    },
    {
      "alt": "こんぽんげんいん",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "roman": "konpon gen'in",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "根本原因"
    },
    {
      "alt": "根本原因",
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "roman": "geunbon wonin",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "word": "근본 원인"
    },
    {
      "code": "gv",
      "lang": "Manx",
      "lang_code": "gv",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ard-oyr"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "pierwotna przyczyna"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "pervopričína",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "первопричи́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "lang_code": "sv",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "grundorsak"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "lang_code": "uk",
      "roman": "peršopryčýna",
      "sense": "initiating cause",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "першопричи́на"
    }
  ],
  "word": "root cause"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Bashkir translations",
    "Terms with Belarusian translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Georgian translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Icelandic translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Manx translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "root causes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root causing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root caused",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root caused",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "root-cause",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "root cause (third-person singular simple present root causes, present participle root causing, simple past and past participle root caused)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              61,
              73
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2017, Charles Protzman, Joyce Kerpchar, George Mayzell, Leveraging Lean in Ancillary Hospital Services, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 108:",
          "text": "Fishbones are a great tool for collecting, categorizing, and root-causing feedback from staff.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              116,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018, Prabhat Mishra, Farimah Farahmandi, chapter 1, in Post-Silicon Validation and Debug, Springer, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "After the effect of the bug is observed using post-silicon tests, the next step is to localize the source of error, root-cause bugs, and fix them.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To identify the cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "identify",
          "identify"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause"
        ],
        [
          "chain",
          "chain"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "effect",
          "effect"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To identify the cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-root cause.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg/En-au-root_cause.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/En-au-root_cause.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "root cause"
}

Download raw JSONL data for root cause meaning in English (8.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-10-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-10-01 using wiktextract (f9fe161 and 6f96ddf). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.