FINAL CAUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does final cause mean? 

• FINAL CAUSE (noun)
  The noun FINAL CAUSE has 1 sense:

1. (philosophy) the end or purpose of a thing or process

  Familiarity information: FINAL CAUSE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FINAL CAUSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(philosophy) the end or purpose of a thing or process

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("final cause" is a kind of...):

aim; design; intent; intention; purpose (an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions)

Domain category:

philosophy (the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics)

 Context examples 

He might dissect, anatomise, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were utterly unknown to him.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)