Etymology: Originally (in Old English) < classical Latin cāsus (see below). Subsequently reborrowed < (i) Anglo-Norman caas, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French cas, Anglo-Norman and Middle French case (feminine), kas (French cas ) grammatical case (c1170 or earlier in Anglo-Norman, second quarter of the 13th cent. in continental French), situation, state of things (beginning of the 13th cent. or earlier), legal action or suit brought to trial (second quarter of the 13th cent. or earlier; frequently in Anglo-Norman), affair, business (c1261), event, chance happening (c1270 or earlier), fortune, chance (c1300, originally in par cas ), circumstances of a legal case (early 14th cent. or earlier), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin cāsus (also cassus ) fall, end (of a season), ending (of a word), grammatical case, accident, chance, occurrence, event, incidence or occurrence (of a disease), misfortune, disaster, outcome, opportunity, danger, risk, situation, in post-classical Latin also legal case (5th cent.) < cas- , past participial stem of cadere to fall (see cadence n.) + -tus, suffix forming verbal nouns. Compare Old Occitan cas, Catalan cas (14th cent.), Spanish caso (end of the 12th cent.), Portuguese caso (13th cent.), Italian caso (c1260).Use in grammar. Classical Latin cāsus grammatical case, lit. ‘fall’ (compare sense 1), was used by Latin grammarians to translate ancient Greek πτῶσις lit. ‘falling, fall’ (compare ptosis n.). Aristotle applied πτῶσις to any derived, inflected, or extended forms of a noun, adjective, or verb, the simple form being taken to be shown by the nominative of nouns or adjectives or the present indicative of verbs; hence the term was applied to the oblique cases of nouns, to the variations of adjectives due to gender and comparison, to adverbs derived from adjectives (e.g. δικαίως ‘justly’ was a πτῶσις of δίκαιος ‘just’), and the other tenses and moods of the verb, including also its interrogative form. The grammarians, following the Stoics, restricted πτῶσις to nouns and adjectives, and included also the nominative under the term. Specific senses. With the medical use in sense 8a(a) compare Middle French, French cas (second half of the 15th cent. in this sense; apparently rare before the late 18th cent.). Inflection in Old English and Middle English. In Old English a strong masculine. The only attested form of the nominative is casus , after the Latin nominative form; however, in other cases native inflections (e.g. dative case , accusative plural casas , etc.) are sometimes attested. In Middle English sometimes with unmarked plural form (compare e.g. quot. 1340 at sense 6a).

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman case, caase, cace, caas, cas, kas, Anglo-Norman and Old French (chiefly northern) casse, variants of Anglo-Norman chas, Old French chasce, Anglo-Norman and Middle French chasse, chace (French châsse ) reliquary, shrine (c1150 in Old French), box, receptacle (13th cent. or earlier), casket (13th cent. or earlier), capsule (13th cent. or earlier), receptacle within the body (a1365 in specific sense ’pericardium’), frame (c1375) < classical Latin capsa cylindrical case for holding books, receptacle for other things, in post-classical Latin also reliquary (from 8th cent. in British and continental sources), probably a suffixal derivative < capere to take, hold (see capture n.). Compare Old Occitan caisa , caissa , Catalan caixa (14th cent.), Spanish caja (1251 as †caxa ; probably < Old Occitan or Catalan), Portuguese caixa (15th cent.; 1364 as †qajxa ), Italian cassa (13th cent., earliest in sense ‘money chest’, 1585 in the specific use in typography (see sense 6a)). Compare casement n., casing n.²Specific senses. In sense 1b originally after Middle French cassette cassette n. (1583 (in the passage translated in quot. 1600) or earlier in this sense). In sense 5a probably a specific semantic development, perhaps influenced by Italian casa house, dwelling (late 12th cent.; < classical Latin casa cottage, hut, in post-classical Latin also house (5th cent.), of uncertain origin); Italian casa is apparently not attested in the sense ‘brothel’ before the second half of the 18th century. In sense 9 shortened < case shot n. Ambiguous early evidence. It is unclear whether the following is to be taken as an instance of the Middle English word (in sense 3a) or of the Anglo-Norman word:1371 in R. G. Marsden Documents rel. Law & Custom Sea (1915) 91 Sex bale de alum, quatuor case de sope, tria dolia cum lino, et quatuordecim remi de papiro.