but for

adjective

Meaning

Pertaining to a test of causation whereby an agent or action is considered to have caused an event (and therefore to be responsible and/or liable for said event) if, had said agent or action not existed, the event would not have taken place.
Except, except for, not counting; were it not for.

Etymology / origin

No prose etymology has been added yet.

No ancestor words have been linked yet.

Related words

proximate(English)causal-final(English)prefactual(English)pre-action(English)a posteriori(English)a forteriori(English)precursory(English)presuit(English)

Descendant words

No descendant words have been linked yet.

Sources

DictionaryAPI.dev English dictionary data