case
Definitions
General English
- noun a box with a handle, for carrying things such as your clothes when travelling
- noun a special box for an object
- noun a large box for a set of goods to be sold
- noun a situation, or a way in which something happens
Commerce
- noun reasons for doing something
- verb to pack (items) in a case
Computing
- noun a programming command that jumps to various points in a program depending on the result of a test
Construction
- A box, sheath, or covering.
- The process of covering one material with another; to encase.
- A product or food display counter, such as a refrigerated case for displaying ice cream or frozen produce.
- A lock housing.
Electronics
- (written as CASE)Acronym for computer-aided software engineering, computer-assisted software engineering, computer-automated software engineering, computer-aided systems engineering, and computer-automated systems engineering.
- acronym forcomputer-aided systems engineering (written as CASE)
- acronym forcomputer-assisted software engineering (written as CASE)
- acronym forcomputer-assisted systems engineering (written as CASE)
- acronym forcomputer-automated software engineering (written as CASE)
- acronym forcomputer-automated systems engineering (written as CASE)
- The use of computers to assist in the automation of all phases of software design, development, documentation, and maintenance. Its acronym is CASE. Also called computer-aided systems engineering, computer-assisted software engineering, or computer-assisted systems engineering.
Health Economics
- (written as Case)A patient having a specified disease or condition who is being investigated or treated, or an example of something investigated, as in ' case study '.
Information & Library Science
Law
- noun a possible crime and its investigation by the police
- noun a set of arguments or facts put forward by one side in legal proceedings
Marketing
- noun a cardboard or wooden box for packing and carrying goods
Media Studies
- noun a compartmentalised tray in which loose metal type is kept before being combined for printing
- noun one of the two kinds of printed letters of the alphabet, either a capital or small letter
Medical
- noun a person who has a disease or who is undergoing treatment
Politics
- noun a question to be investigated by the police or to be decided in a law court
- noun the arguments or facts put forward by one side in a debate or law court
Publishing
- noun a box in which metal type is kept, divided into sections for the various pieces of type
Slang
- verb to reconnoitre (premises) in preparation for subsequent robbery. The well-known phrase ‘case the joint’ has existed in underworld slang since before World War II. It originated in American usage, first being used with a generalised meaning of to assess.
Travel
- noun a box with a handle for carrying clothes and personal belongings when travelling
Wine
- a standard quantity for selling wine in a cardboard or wooden box containing 12 bottles or 24 half-bottles or 6 magnums
Business
- acronym forcomputer aided software engineering (written as CASE)
Origin & History of “case”
there are two distinct words case in English, both acquired via Old French from Latin and both members of very large families. Case ‘circumstance’ was borrowed from Old French cas, which in turn came from Latin cāsus ‘fall, chance’. this was formed from the base of the verb cadere ‘fall’. The progression of senses is from the concrete ‘that which falls’ to the metaphorical ‘that which befalls, that which happens (by chance)’ (and English chance is also derived ultimately from Latin cadere). other related words in English include accident, cadence, cadaver, cheat, chute, coincide, decadent, decay, deciduous, and occasion. Case ‘container’ comes via Old French casse from Latin capsa ‘box’, a derivative of the verb capere ‘hold’ (which is related to English heave). At various points during its history it has produced offshoots which in English have become capsule (17th c.), a diminutive form, cash, chassis, and perhaps capsicum (18th c.) and chase ‘engrave’.
