case

See also: Appendix:Variations of "case"

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /keɪs/
    • Audio (UK):(file)
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪs
  • Hyphenation: case

Etymology 1

    From Middle English cas, from Old French cas (“an event”), from Latin cāsus (“a falling, a fall; accident, event, occurrence; occasion, opportunity; noun case”), perfect passive participle of cadō (“to fall, to drop”).

    Noun

    case (plural cases)

    1. An actual event, situation, or fact.
      For a change, in this case, he was telling the truth.
      It is not the case that every unfamiliar phrase is an idiom.
      In case of fire, break glass. [sign on fire extinguisher holder in public space]
      Conditioning would require exposition to any sentence before being uttered, which isn’t the case.
      • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
    2. (now rare) A given condition or state.
      • 1586, William Warner, “The Fourth Booke. Chapter XXXVI.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 174:
        Thus vvhilſt he hopt he hild her leaſt, ſo altereth the cace / VVith ſuch as ſhe, Ah ſuch it is to build on ſuch a face.
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
        Ne wist he how to turne, nor to what place: / Was never wretched man in such a wofull cace.
      • 1726, Nathan Bailey, John Worlidge, Dictionarium Rusticum, Urbanicum & Botanicum:
        Mares which are over-fat, hold with much difficulty; whereas those that are but in good case and plump, conceive with the greatest readiness and ease.
    3. A specific matter or piece of work, specifically defined within a profession, usually in respect of a specific person and/or event; the set of tasks involved in addressing one such matter.
      It was one of the detective's easiest cases.
      Social workers should work on a maximum of forty active cases.
      The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning.
      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
        We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
      • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
        The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff. These properties were known to have belonged to a toddy drawer. He had disappeared.
    4. (academia) An instance or event as a topic of study.
      The teaching consists of theory lessons and case studies.
    6. (law) A legal proceeding; a lawsuit or prosecution.
      • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
        “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […] ”
      • 2025 November 20, Simmone Shah, “Ukraine to Claim $44bn in Climate Damages From Russia. Why War Is So Bad For Emissions”, in Time‎[1], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 December 2025:
        As the conflict has dragged on, prosecutors in Ukraine are now pursuing 247 cases of environmental war crimes against Russia in Ukrainian courts and the International Criminal Court, according to reporting published in April by the New York Times.
    8. (grammar) A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
      The accusative case most commonly indicates a direct object.
      Latin has six cases, and remnants of a seventh.
      • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 292:
        Now, the Subject of either an indicative or a subjunctive Clause is always assigned Nominative case, as we see from:
        (16) (a)   I know [that they/*them/*their leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
        (16) (b)   I demand [that they/*them/*their leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
        By contrast, the Subject of an infinitive Clause is assigned Objective case, as we see from:
        (17)   I want [them/*they/*their to leave for Hawaii tomorrow]
        And the Subject of a gerund Clause is assigned either Objective or Genitive case: cf.
        (18)   I don't like the idea of [them/their/*they leaving for Hawaii tomorrow]
    9. (grammar, uncountable) Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language.
      Jane has been studying case in Caucasian languages.
      Latin is a language that employs case.
    11. (medicine) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms.
      Antonym: noncase
      Hyponym: index case
      Coordinate term: patient
      There were another five cases reported overnight.
      • 2013, Gillian Russell, Delia Graff Fara, Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language, page 144:
        We turn next to the puzzle of borderlineness: If Harry is intermediate between clear cases and clear noncases of baldness, “Is Harry bald?” seems to have no good, direct, answer.
    12. (programming) A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch.
      • 2004, Rick Miller, C++ for Artists:
        Place a break statement at the end of every case to prevent case fall-through.
      • 2011, Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus, page 275:
        Execution does not automatically stop at the next case.
    13. (archaic) A love affair.
      • 1867, The Young Ladies' Journal, page 467:
        Poor fellow, just as I thought! It's a case with him, anybody can see that. He is thinking about Christine, for a certainty. Lovers always take to stargazing and moonlight dreaming — it's part of their complaint.
      • 1876, The New York Drama, volumes 1-2, page 1:
        I thought it only an amourette when you told me. It was a fire — a conflagration; subdue it. I saw it was a case, and I advised you to try — dissipation.
    Usage notes
    • In medicine, in precise and respectful usage, a case is not a patient and a patient is not a case, whereas a patient has a case. In loose usage, however, the words are often treated synonymously.
    Synonyms
    Antonyms
    Hyponyms
    Derived terms
    Descendants
    • → Swedish: case n
    Translations
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

    case (third-person singular simple present cases, present participle casing, simple past and past participle cased)

    1. (obsolete, intransitive) To propose hypothetical cases.

    See also

    • Appendix:Grammatical cases

    References

    • (love affair): John Camden Hotten (1873), The Slang Dictionary‎[2]
    • case on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

    Etymology 2

      From Middle English case, from Old Northern French casse (compare Old French chasse (“box, chest, case”)), from Latin capsa (“box, bookcase”), from capiō (“to take, seize, hold”). Doublet of cash, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja, Asturian caxa, Portuguese caixa.

      Noun

      case (plural cases)

      2. A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture or commerce.
        • 1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 94:
          When the ship reached Melbourne two days later we collared a couple of cases of apples from the hold and hid them in our bunks.
      3. A box, sheath, or covering generally.
        a case for spectacles; the case of a watch
      4. A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
      5. An enclosing frame or casing.
        a door case; a window case
      6. A suitcase.
      7. A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
      8. The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
      9. (printing, historical) A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces).
      10. (typography, by extension) The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a "capital" (upper case) or "small" (lower case) letter.
      11. (poker slang) Four of a kind.
      12. (US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
      13. (mining) A small fissure which admits water into the workings.[1]
      14. A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft.
      15. A cardboard box that holds (usually 24) beer bottles or cans.
        Synonym: carton
        a single case of Bud Light
      16. (UK, slang, obsolete) A counterfeit crown (five-shilling coin).
        • 1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:
          The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence.
      Derived terms
      Terms derived from case (noun, etymology 2)
      Translations
      The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
      Translations to be checked

      Adjective

      case (not comparable)

      1. (poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank.
        He drew the case eight!
        • 2006, David Apostolico, Lessons from the Professional Poker Tour, page 21:
          If he did have a bigger ace, I still had at least six outs — the case ace, two nines, and three tens. I could also have more outs if he held anything less than A-K.
      References

      Verb

      case (third-person singular simple present cases, present participle casing, simple past and past participle cased)

      1. (transitive) To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
      2. (transitive) To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose.
        • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
          The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle.
      3. (transitive, informal) To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
        • 1977, Michael Innes, The Gay Phoenix, →ISBN, page 116:
          You are in the grounds of Brockholes Abbey, a house into which a great deal of valuable property has just been moved. And your job is to case the joint for a break in.
        • 2014, Amy Goodman, From COINTELPRO to Snowden, the FBI Burglars Speak Out After 43 Years of Silence (Part 2), Democracy Now!, January 8, 2014, 0:49 to 0:57:
          Bonnie worked as a daycare director. She helped case the FBI office by posing as a college student interested in becoming an FBI agent.
        • 2017, Robia Rashid, “I Lost My Poor Meetball” (13:45 from the start), in Joe Kessler, director, Atypical, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Sam, Doug, and Elsa (Keir Gilchrist, Michael Rapaport, and Jennifer Jason Leigh), via Netflix:
          Sam: Sometimes before I go to a new place, my family takes me there ahead of time to see what it's like. My dad calls it "casing the joint", which is dumb, but it is helpful to know what to expect.
          Doug: Hey.
          Elsa: Hey.
          Doug: It's been a while since we've cased a joint.
          Elsa: It has.
      Derived terms
      Translations

      References

      1. ^ Edward H[enry] Knight (1877), “Case”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], volumes I (A–GAS), New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC.

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Afar

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ħaˈse/ [ħʌˈsɛ]
      • Hyphenation: ca‧se

      Verb

      casé (frequentative casamcasé, passive cassiimé)

      1. (transitive) wave at
      2. (transitive) strike, hit

      Conjugation

          Conjugation of case (type II verb)
      1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural
      m f
      perfective V-affirmative caséh castéh caséh castéh casnéh casteeníh caseeníh
      N-affirmative casé casté casé casté casné castén casén
      negative mácasinniyo mácasinnito mácasinna mácasinna mácasinnino mácasinniton mácasinnon
      imperfective V-affirmative casáh castáh casáh castáh casnáh castaanáh casaanáh
      N-affirmative casá castá casá castá casná castán casán
      negative mácasa mácasta mácasa mácasta mácasna mácastan mácasan
      prospective V-affirmative caséliyoh
      caséyyoh      		 casélitoh
      caséttoh      		 caséleh caséleh casélinoh
      casénnoh      		 casélitoonuh
      caséttoonuh      		 caséloonuh
      N-affirmative caséliyo
      caséyyo      		 casélito
      casétto      		 caséle caséle casélino
      casénno      		 caséliton
      casétton      		 casélon
      conjunctive I V-affirmative cásuh cástuh cásuh cástuh cásuh castóonuh casóonuh
      N-affirmative cásu cástu cásu cástu cásu castón casón
      negative casé wáyuh casé wáytuh casé wáyuh casé wáytuh casé wáynuh casé waytóonuh casé wóonuh
      conjunctive II V-affirmative casánkeh castánkeh casánkeh castánkeh casnánkeh castaanánkeh casaanánkeh
      N-affirmative casánke castánke casánke castánke casnánke castaanánke casaanánke
      negative casé wáankeh casé waytánkeh casé wáankeh casé waytánkeh casé waynánkeh casé waytaanánkeh casé wáankeh
      jussive affirmative cásay cástay cásay cástay cásnay castóonay casóonay
      negative casé wáay casé wáytay casé wáay casé wáytay casé wáynay casé waytóonay casé wóonay
      past
      conditional       		affirmative casinniyóy casinnitóy casinnáy casinnáy casinninóy casinnitoonúy casinnoonúy
      negative casé wanniyóy casé wannitóy casé wannáy casé wannáy casé wanninóy casé wannitoonúy casé wanninoonúy
      present
      conditional I       		affirmative casék casték casék casték casnék casteeník caseeník
      negative casé wéek casé wayték casé wéek casé wayték casé waynék casé wayteeník casé weeník
      singular plural singular plural
      consultative affirmative casóo casnóo imperative affirmative cás cása
      negative macasóo macasnóo negative mácasin mácasina
      -h converb -i form -k converb -in(n)uh converb -innuk converb infinitive indefinite participle
      V-focus N-focus
      cásah cási cásak casínnuh casínnuk casíyya casináanih casináan
      Compound tenses
      dependent verb sequential perfective + -m
      simultaneous imperfective + -m
      past perfect affirmative perfective + perfective of én or sugé
      present perfect affirmative perfective + imperfective of én
      future perfect affirmative perfective + prospective of sugé
      past progressive -k converb + imperfective of én or sugé
      present progressive affirmative imperfect + imperfective of én
      future progressive -k converb + prospective of sugé
      immediate future affirmative conjunctive I + imperfective of wée
      imperfect potential I affirmative conjunctive I + imperfective of takké
      imperfect
      potential II       		affirmative imperfective + -m + takké
      negative casé + imperfective of wée + -m + takké
      perfect
      potential       		affirmative perfective + -m + takké
      negative casé + perfective of wée + -m + takké
      present
      conditional II       		affirmative imperfective + object pronoun + tekkék
      negative casé + perfective of wée + object pronoun + tekkék
      perfect
      conditional       		affirmative perfective + imperfective of sugé + -k
      negative perfective + sugé + imperfective of wée -k
      irrealis casé + perfective of xaaxé or raaré

      References

      • E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “case”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
      • Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎[3], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 263

      Asturian

      Verb

      case

      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of casar

      Chinese

      Alternative forms

      • 畸士, K士

      Etymology

      From English case. Compare Hokkien khè-sìr.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      case (Hong Kong Cantonese)

      1. case (container; box) (Classifier: 個／个 c)
      2. case (situation) (Classifier: 個／个 c)
      3. case (piece of work) (Classifier: 個／个 c)
      4. case (piece of work) (when associated with a file detailing the case, e.g. applications or reports) (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
      5. the person or client associated with such case (Classifier: 隻／只 c)
      6. case (legal proceeding) (Classifier: 單／单 c; 隻／只 c)

      French

      Etymology

      Borrowed from Latin casa, in the sense of "hut, cabin". The other senses are a semantic loan from Spanish casa. Doublet of chez, which was inherited.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      case f (plural cases)

      1. (archaic, rare or regional) hut, cabin, shack
      2. box (on form)
      3. square (on board game)

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      • Saint Dominican Creole French: caze
        • Haitian Creole: kay

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Galician

      Etymology 1

      Attested since the 15th century (quasy), inherited from Latin quasi (“as if”).

      Alternative forms

      • caixe

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): [ˈkɑsɪ]

      Adverb

      case

      1. almost

      References

      Etymology 2

      Verb

      case

      1. inflection of casar:
        1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
        2. third-person singular imperative

      Italian

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈka.ze/, (traditional) /ˈka.se/
      • Rhymes: -aze, (traditional) -ase
      • Hyphenation: cà‧se

      Noun

      case f

      1. plural of casa

      Anagrams

      Lower Sorbian

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈt͡sa.sɛ/
      • Rhymes: -asɛ
      • Syllabification: ca‧se

      Noun

      case

      1. nominative/accusative plural of cas

      Middle Dutch

      Etymology

        From Old Dutch *kāsi, from late Proto-West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed from Latin cāseus.

        Noun

        câse m or n

        1. cheese

        Inflection

        Strong masculine noun
        singular plural
        nominative câse câse
        accusative câse câse
        genitive câes câse
        dative câse câsen
        Strong neuter noun
        singular plural
        nominative câse câse
        accusative câse câse
        genitive câes câse
        dative câse câsen

        Alternative forms

        Descendants

        • Dutch: kaas
          • Afrikaans: kaas
          • Berbice Creole Dutch: kasi
          • Jersey Dutch: kääs
          • Negerhollands: kaas, kaes
          • → Aukan: kasi
          • → Papiamentu: keshi (from the diminutive)
          • → Peranakan Indonesian: kas
          • → Sranan Tongo: kasi
            • → Caribbean Hindustani: kási
            • → Saramaccan: kási
        • Limburgish: kieës, kees

        Further reading

        • “case”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
        • Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “case (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

        Middle English

        Alternative forms

        Etymology

          From Old Northern French casse, from Latin capsa.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /ˈkaːs(ə)/, /ˈkas(ə)/

          Noun

          case (plural cases)

          1. box, chest, casket, case

          Descendants

          References

          Norwegian Bokmål

          Etymology

          Borrowed from English case, from Latin cāsus. Doublet of kasus.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /kɛɪ̯s/, /kæɪ̯s/

          Noun

          case m or n (definite singular casen or caset, indefinite plural caser, definite plural casene)

          1. a case study; a case as used in a case study

          References

          Norwegian Nynorsk

          Etymology

          Borrowed from English case, from Latin cāsus. Doublet of kasus.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /kɛɪ̯s/, /kæɪ̯s/

          Noun

          case m or n (definite singular casen or caset, indefinite plural casar or case, definite plural casane or casa)

          1. a case study; a case as used in a case study
            Synonyms: døme, eksempel

          References

          Old French

          Noun

          case oblique singular, m (oblique plural cases, nominative singular cases, nominative plural case)

          1. (grammar) case

          Portuguese

          Etymology 1

          Etymology tree
          substratebor.?
          Proto-Indo-European *kap-
          Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
          Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti
          Proto-Italic *kapjō
          Proto-Italic *kapsos
          Latin capsa
          Old Northern French cassebor.
          Middle English case
          English caseubor.
          Portuguese case

            Unadapted borrowing from English case. Doublet of caixa.

            Pronunciation

            • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈkej.zi/ [ˈkeɪ̯.zi]

            • Rhymes: -ejzi

            Noun

            case m or f same meaning (plural cases)

            1. (Brazil) phone case
              Synonyms: capa, capinha
              • 2021 February 16, @choquei [CHOQUEI], Twitter‎[4] (post):
                🚨FAMOSOS: Hailey Bieber lança case de iPhone com suporte para guardar gloss da sua marca que custará R$ 174,00.
                🚨CELEBS: Hailey Bieber launches iPhone case with a slot to hold her brand of lip gloss, costing R$174.00.
                (Can we archive this URL?)

            Etymology 2

            Etymology tree
            Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-
            Proto-Indo-European *-eti
            Proto-Indo-European *ḱádeti
            Proto-Italic *kadō
            Latin cadō
            Proto-Indo-European *-tus
            Proto-Italic *-tus
            Latin -tus
            Latin cāssus
            Latin cāsus
            Old French casbor.
            Middle English cas
            English caseubor.
            Portuguese case

              Unadapted borrowing from English case. Doublet of caso.

              Pronunciation

              • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈkej.zi/ [ˈkeɪ̯.zi]

              • Rhymes: -ejzi

              Noun

              case m (plural cases)

              2. (Brazil, marketing) marketing case study

              Etymology 3

                See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

                Pronunciation

                • Rhymes: -azi, -azɨ
                • Hyphenation: ca‧se

                Verb

                case

                1. inflection of casar:
                  1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
                  2. third-person singular imperative

                Further reading

                Romanian

                Noun

                case

                1. inflection of casă:
                  1. plural
                  2. genitive/dative singular

                Spanish

                Pronunciation

                • IPA(key): /ˈkase/ [ˈka.se]
                • Rhymes: -ase
                • Syllabification: ca‧se

                Verb

                case

                1. inflection of casar:
                  1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
                  2. third-person singular imperative

                Swedish

                Etymology

                Borrowed from English case, from Latin cāsus. Doublet of kasus.

                Pronunciation

                • IPA(key): /kɛjs/
                • Rhymes: -ɛjs

                Noun

                case n

                1. (countable) a case (instance or event as a topic of study)
                  Synonym: fall

                Declension

                Declension of case
                nominative genitive
                singular indefinite case cases
                definite caset casets
                plural indefinite case cases
                definite casen casens

                Derived terms

                • casemetodik

                References

                • “case”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)

                Venetan

                Noun

                case

                1. plural of casa
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