Meanings
nouncause of death (plural causes of death)
plural causes of death
- The official cause of a human death as typically determined by a coroner during an autopsy and included on the death certificate of a deceased person.
Cancers are common diseases; in the aggregate, they are among the leading causes of death nationally and worldwide, and their incidence is increasing as the population ages.
2015 February 26, Francis S. Collins, Harold Varmus, “A New Initiative on Precision Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 372, number 9, →DOI, pages 793–794
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic سَبَب مَوْت, سَبَب وَفَاة
- سَبَب مَوْت (sabab mawt)official cause of a human death
- سَبَب وَفَاة (sabab wafāh)official cause of a human death
Bulgarian причи́на за смъртта́
- причи́на за смъртта́ (pričína za smărttá)official cause of a human death
Chinese Mandarin 死因
- 死因 (sǐyīn)official cause of a human death
Czech příčina smrti, příčina úmrtí
- příčina smrtiofficial cause of a human death
- příčina úmrtíofficial cause of a human death
Danish dødsårsag
- dødsårsagofficial cause of a human death
Dutch doodsoorzaak
- doodsoorzaakofficial cause of a human death
Finnish kuolinsyy, kuolemansyy
- kuolinsyyofficial cause of a human death
- kuolemansyyofficial cause of a human death
French cause de la mort, cause du décès
- cause de la mortofficial cause of a human death
- cause du décèsofficial cause of a human death
German Todesursache
- Todesursacheofficial cause of a human death
Italian causa di morte
- causa di morteofficial cause of a human death
Japanese 死因
- 死因 (shiin)official cause of a human death
Korean 사인, 사망원인
- 사인 (sain)official cause of a human death
- 사망원인 (samang'wonin)official cause of a human death
Norwegian Bokmål dødsårsak
- dødsårsakofficial cause of a human death
Persian علت مرگ
- علت مرگ ('ellat-e marg)official cause of a human death
Polish przyczyna śmierci
- przyczyna śmierciofficial cause of a human death
Russian причи́на сме́рти
- причи́на сме́рти (pričína smérti)official cause of a human death
Slovak príčina úmrtia, príčina smrti
- príčina úmrtiaofficial cause of a human death
- príčina smrtiofficial cause of a human death
Spanish causa de la muerte
- causa de la muerteofficial cause of a human death
Swedish dödsorsak
- dödsorsakofficial cause of a human death
Ukrainian причи́на сме́рті
- причи́на сме́рті (pryčýna smérti)official cause of a human death
Cite this entry
APA
cause of death. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cause%20of%20death
MLA
“cause of death.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cause%20of%20death. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cause of death,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cause%20of%20death.
Source: cause of death on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.