Philosophical or analytical term for the relationship between cause and effect. Common in academic, scientific, and everyday explanatory contexts.
We need to clarify the causal relationship.
It is difficult to elucidate the cause and effect of this phenomenon.
Buddhist concept of karmic cause and effect; also used more broadly for one's (often unfortunate) destiny or fate.
In Buddhism, there is the concept of karmic retribution.
He lamented his fate.
Adjectival use describing a person or situation as unlucky or doomed. Often used in set phrases like 因果な身の上 or 因果な星の下に生まれる.
I have no choice but to resign myself to my unfortunate circumstances.
You could say he was born under an unlucky star.
The detective took action to investigate the causal chain behind the incident.
It's a cruel twist of fate, but he lost his parents right after he was born.
She believes she is suffering because of karma from a past life.
運命 means fate or destiny in a general sense without any Buddhist causal implication, while 因果 stresses that the fate arises from karmic cause and effect.
宿命 emphasizes an inescapable, predetermined destiny, whereas 因果 emphasizes the karmic cause that produced that destiny.
不幸 is the plain, everyday word for 'unfortunate', while 因果 (as a na-adjective) implies the misfortune is the result of karmic causes.
因縁 refers to a karmic connection or bond linking people or events, while 因果 refers to the broader principle of cause and effect or the resulting fate itself.
相関 (correlation) only means two things vary together, while 因果 (causation) means one directly causes the other, a distinction learners often blur.
retribution; karma; just deserts; poetic justice
law of causality; principle of cause and effect
causality
unlucky person; person with bad karma
retribution across three temporal worlds
From Middle Chinese 因果 (ʔin kwaX), a Buddhist term translating Sanskrit hetuphala (cause and effect). The adjectival sense 'unfortunate' developed in Japanese from the idea of being bound by bad karma.