causados

Causados is the plural of causado, a term used primarily in the formal legal language of some Spanish-speaking jurisdictions. In this context, causado refers to the person or persons who are the object of a legal action, typically the party charged in a criminal case or the party against whom a civil action is brought. In English, the closest equivalents are the defendant or the accused. The word originates from the verb causar (to cause) and the past participle suffix -ado, but its use as a noun in legal texts is specialized and not common in everyday speech.

The exact usage of causados varies by country and legal tradition. Many Spanish-speaking systems favor other terms such as acusado, imputado, denunciado, or demandado to designate the party facing charges or a lawsuit. In those contexts, causados may appear in historical documents, older texts, or regional varieties of legal language. Because of these variations, causado and causados are best understood as one possible juridical label among several for the same basic role: the party against whom proceedings have been instituted.

Outside its legal sense, causado functions as the past participle of causar and simply means “caused.” Its use as a noun is largely restricted to formal or archaic registers, and it is not a common everyday synonym for the defendant in modern contemporary usage.

See also: acusado, imputado, denunciado, demandado, causa.