casus belli

From Latin casus (“case”) + belli (“of war”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪsəs ˈbɛlaɪ/, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪsəs ˈbɛli/

casus belli (plural casus belli or casus bellis)

1. An act seen as justifying or causing a war; act of war.
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 309:

     Algiers seethed, and this was the casus belli for the ‘ultras’ to attempt a general strike.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 138:

     Furthermore, if the French had airily waved away one potential casus belli, more than enough causes of potential conflict remained embedded in the Aix-la-Chapelle Treaty.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 290:

     Had Saddam taken only the Rumaila oil field and the Bubiyan and Warba islands, there would have been no casus belli.

Latin

casus belli m (invariable)

1. casus belli

Latin

casus belli m (invariable)

1. casus belli