casualty

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkæʒu.əlti/ UK /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/ See IPA manual

Freq #12078

Meanings

1

noun
A person killed or injured in an accident, disaster, or war.

There were several casualties in the train crash.
2

noun
A person or thing that is harmed or destroyed as a result of an event or decision.

The small bookshop was an early casualty of the new shopping mall.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person killed or injured... injured party

More luck

Word family

Forms casualties

Derived forms casevac

Related forms casual

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Truth is the first casualty of war

Etymology

From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

*ḱh₂d- Proto-Indo-European casuel Middle French casualitas la-med cāsuālis la-lat cāsus Latin

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Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# casualty

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkæʒu.əlti/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkaʒʊ.əlti/
**Frequency rank:** 12078

## Meanings
1. A person killed or injured in an accident, disaster, or war.
2. A person or thing that is harmed or destroyed as a result of an event or decision.

## Examples
- There were several casualties in the train crash.
- The small bookshop was an early casualty of the new shopping mall.

## Synonyms
- luck

## Derived Forms
- casevac

## Related Forms
- casual

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱh₂d-
- Root: casuel
- Root: casualitas
- Root: cāsuālis
- Root: cāsus

## Etymology
From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

## AI Etymology
Casualty is from casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person. Important recorded forms include *ḱh₂d- (Proto-Indo-European), casuel (Middle French), casualitas (la-med), cāsuālis (la-lat), and cāsus (Latin). Current senses include a person killed or injured in an accident, disaster, or war and a person or thing that is harmed or destroyed as a result of an event or decision. The wider family includes derived forms such as casevac and related words such as casual.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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