powodu

Powód is a Polish noun with two primary senses. In everyday language it means reason or cause for something, as in a statement about why something happened. In legal terminology, powód designates the plaintiff in a civil case. The genitive singular form powodu is used after prepositions or constructs that require the genitive, most famously in the common phrase z powodu meaning “due to” or “on account of.” The plural forms reflect different meanings: powody refers to reasons, while powodowie refers to plaintiffs.

In the legal context, the powód is the party who brings a lawsuit, the przeciwstawnym party being the pozwany (the defendant). Related terms include powództwo, the act or institution of bringing a lawsuit, and pozew, the written claim or petition filed in court. Polish grammar uses standard case inflections for powód, so forms such as powodu (genitive), powodem (instrumental), and powodzie (locative) appear in various constructions.

Etymology of powód is anchored in the Polish word for cause or motive and is related to similar Slavic terms for reason or occasion in neighboring languages. Cognates appear in other languages, such as Russian povod meaning occasion or pretext, and Czech důvod meaning reason. While the exact historical development is complex, the word consistently centers on the idea of a motive, justification, or legal action.

Usage tips: z powodu is the most frequent construction for attributing a consequence to a cause. In formal writing, distinguish between powód (the reason) and powództwo/pozew (the legal action). Awareness of the dual meanings helps in both everyday conversation and interpreting Polish-language legal texts.