两个术语之间的差异在于immediate cause (也称为effective cause)( “直接原因”）是指在一系列原因中最后一个直接导致结果产生或事件发生之原因[1]。而proximate cause (也称为direct cause ； direct and proximate cause; efficient proximate cause ； efficient cause； efficient adequate cause；legal cause; primary cause; jural cause)( “近因”）也与结果有直接关联，但它则不一定是直接原因[2]。如一醉酒者不小心坠入池塘淹死，醉酒（intoxication) 则是该人死亡的近因（proximate cause)，而溺水则是致其死亡的直接原因（immediate cause)。

[1]“The last event in a chain of events，though not necessarily the proximate cause of what follows. ”Cf. Bryan A. Gamer, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition, at p. 212, West Group (1999).

[2]“A cause that such in motion a sequence of events uninterrupted by any superseding causes and that results in a usu. foreseeable effect (as an injury) which would not otherwise have ocurred. ”Cf. Linda Picard Wood, J. D. Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law, at p. 69, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (1996).