plural of external cause

(medicine) A cause for an effect in a system that is not a constituent of that system, especially causes of personal health problems or death, such as poison, weapon wounds, or accident.

(intransitive) To cause controversy, or raise a disturbance.

(law) An event which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces an injury, and without which the injury would not have occurred.

plural of cause of action

Shared purpose. / Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see common, cause.

(philosophy, natural science) The stuff or matter of which something is made.

(philosophy, natural science) The design, pattern, or pure concept of a thing, which gives form or structure to its matter.

(philosophy, natural science) The purpose, goal, or end fulfilled by a thing.

(philosophy, natural science) The being or event which physically brings about the change or motion that produces another occurrence or thing.