casus belli
/ˈkeɪ.səs ˈbɛl.aɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.03 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An act seen as justifying or causing a war; an act of war.
Example Sentences
- "In ancient times, repeatedly failing to pay tribute by a vassal state was often used as a casus belli by the patron."
- "The Executive, however, can do many acts which would constitute a casus belli, and thus indirectly result in war; but this does not imply in the Executive a concurrent power to declare war, and the war which would result would be one declared by a foreign power."
- "Algiers seethed, and this was the casus belli for the ‘ultras’ to attempt a general strike."
- "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."
- "Had Saddam taken only the Rumaila oil field and the Bubiyan and Warba islands, there would have been no casus belli."
- "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."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: cāsus