Definition of First cause

1. Noun. An agent that is the cause of all things but does not itself have a cause. "God is the first cause"

Exact synonyms: Prime Mover, Primum Mobile
Generic synonyms: Causal Agency, Causal Agent, Cause

Definition of First cause

1. Noun. (alternative spelling of first cause) ¹

2. Noun. (context: theology philosophy sometimes capitalized) That which causes everything else; the ultimate creative force or being behind the universe, identified with God by such Christian thinkers as Thomas Aquinas. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of First Cause

first among equals
first and foremost
first and last
first annual
first appearance
first arch syndrome
first balcony
first base
first baseman
first bases
first battle of Ypres
first bite free
first blood
first blush
first cause
first chair
first choice
first choices
first city
first come, first served
first come first served
first conditional
first contact
first cousin
first cousin once removed
first cousin twice removed
first cousins

Literary usage of First cause

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Persistent Problems of Philosophy: An Introduction to Metaphysics by Mary Whiton Calkins (1912)
"We find him arguing for an ultimate cause which is also a first cause. There must be a first cause of me — this is the implication of his argument — for if ..."

2. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1909)
"All emanation of being has its original exemplar in the development of the divine first cause into the hypostases of the Trinity; all fatherhood and sonship ..."

3. Some Dogmas of Religion by John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart (1906)
"The supporters of the necessity of a first cause would argue against this as ... And this can only be done by asserting the existence of a first cause which ..."

4. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1920)
"1917 (paragraph 3 first cause of action and paragraph 3 second cause of action). The judgment of the court which finds that the Cleveland Company Is liable ..."

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