case [ME] Case ‘an instance’ is something that happens or befalls, coming via French from Latin casus ‘a fall’, also the source of casual [LME]. The case meaning ‘container’ is from Old French casse, the modern form of which is caisse ‘trunk, chest’, based on Latin capsa, related to capere ‘to hold’ (see capable). Latin capsa is also the base of Late Middle English capsule, a general term at first for ‘a small container’, and cash [L16th] originally meaning ‘money-box’. The same base gave rise to Late Middle English casement, which was first recorded as an architectural term for a hollow moulding.