casus belli
See also: Casus Belli
English
Etymology
From Latin cāsus (“case”) + bellī (“of war”). The English homographic plural casus belli is also taken from Latin, where the plural of this phrase would be cāsūs bellī, with a long vowel ū in the first word, as is typical of the nominative plural of fourth-declension nouns.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkeɪ.səs ˈbɛl.aɪ/, /- ˈbɛl.i/
- (plural) IPA(key): /ˈkeɪ.sus ˈbɛl.aɪ/
Noun
casus belli (plural casus belli or casus bellis)
- An act seen as justifying or causing a war; an act of war.
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 309:
- Algiers seethed, and this was the casus belli for the ‘ultras’ to attempt a general strike.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 138:
- Furthermore, if the French had airily waved away one potential casus belli, more than enough causes of potential conflict remained embedded in the Aix-la-Chapelle Treaty.
- 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 290:
- Had Saddam taken only the Rumaila oil field and the Bubiyan and Warba islands, there would have been no casus belli.
- 2022 March 1, Mary Elise Sarotte, “I’m a Cold War Historian. We’re in a Frightening New Era.”, in The New York Times, ISSN 0362-4331:
- And Washington needs to communicate clearly with not only its allies but also the American public on the risks involved if spillover from Ukraine into Article 5 territory verges on a casus belli — an event that provokes a war.
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 309:
Translations
act causing war
|
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin.
Noun
casus belli m (invariable)
- casus belli
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin cāsus bellī.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈka.zuz ˈbɛl.li/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛlli
Noun
casus belli n (indeclinable)
- (international law) casus belli
Further reading
- casus belli in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- casus belli in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin cāsus bellī (literally “case of war”).
Noun
casus belli m (plural casuses bellis)
- casus belli