contributory.

Helping to produce an outcome without necessarily being its main or only cause.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• contributory factor
• contributory negligence

On the page

Poor ventilation was a contributory factor rather than the sole cause.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. 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: causation. Commonness: moderately common.