causative.

1. Serving to produce an event or condition.

2. Describing a verb or construction in which an agent causes another person or thing to perform an action or undergo a change.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• causative factor
• causative agent

On the page

The report identified the leak as a causative factor in the equipment failure.

A marker correlated with disease is not necessarily a causative agent.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Relational or categorical adjective; ordinary comparative and superlative generally not applicable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: moderately common.