Etimology
For noun: from Middle English effect, from Old French effect (modern French effet), from Latin effectus (“an effect, tendency, purpose”), from efficiō (“accomplish, complete, effect”); see effect as a verb. Displaced Old English fremming, fremednes from fremman. For verb: from Middle English effecten, partly from Medieval Latin effectuō, from Latin effectus, perfect passive participle of efficiō (“accomplish, complete, do, effect”), from ex (“out”) + faciō (“do, make”) (see fact and compare affect, infect) and partly from the noun effect.
noun
effect (countable and uncountable, plural effects)
The result or outcome of a cause.
Impression left on the mind; sensation produced.
Execution; performance; realization; operation.
(cinematography, computer graphics, demoscene) An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")
(sound engineering) An alteration, or device for producing an alteration, in sound after it has been produced by an instrument.
(physics, psychology, etc.) A scientific phenomenon, usually named after its discoverer.
(usually in the plural) Belongings, usually as personal effects.
Consequence intended; purpose; meaning; general intent; with to.
(obsolete) Reality; actual meaning; fact, as distinguished from mere appearance.
(obsolete) Manifestation; expression; sign.
Examples
Synonyms: consequence; see also Thesaurus:cause
Antonyms: see Thesaurus:cause
The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.
The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […] The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.
The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
The effect of the hurricane was a devastated landscape.
patchwork […] introduced for oratorical effect
The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place.
That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it.
The new law will come into effect on the first day of next year.
The effect of flying was most convincing.
The colored bands of color that strobe through much of the text and other visual elements are perhaps the most prototypical of all Amiga demoscene effects and, again, are a direct result of the hardware on which Megademo was created to run.
I use an echo effect here to make the sound more mysterious.
I just bought a couple of great effects.
Doppler effect
The tenant shall pay for the repair of, or replace all such items of the fixtures, fittings, furniture and effects as shall be broken, lost, damaged or destroyed during that time.
His Goods, Family, and all his Effects were also ſeiz'd every where, and his Family carried into Priſon.
They spake to her to that effect.
no other in effect than what it seems
All the large effects / That troop with majesty.
Related words
hyponyms
acousto-optic effect
adverse effect
after-effect
aftereffect
aha effect
backfire effect
bandwagon effect
bank effect
Barnum effect
Bauschinger effect
betavoltaic effect
boomerang effect
Bridgman effect
butterfly effect
Casimir effect
Cheerios effect
Cher effect
Cherenkov effect
chimney effect
cis effect
Coriolis effect
cumulative effect
cutaneous rabbit effect
desired effect
disulfiram effect
domino effect
Doppler effect
Dunning-Kruger effect
edge effect
eureka effect
Faraday effect
Forer effect
Forrester effect
fraternal birth order effect
geodetic effect
greenhouse effect
ground effect
gyromagnetic effect
Hall effect
Hill-Robertson effect
hothouse effect
ideomotor effect
ill effect
inductive effect
isotope effect
Joule-Thomson effect
knock-on effect
lake effect
Lombard effect
lotus effect
Marangoni effect
mass effect
Matthew effect
mesomeric effect
Mössbauer effect
Nader effect
neighbourhood effect
nocebo effect
Peltier effect
photoeffect
photoelectric effect
photovoltaic effect
piezoelectric effect
piezoresistive effect
placebo_effect
plateau effect
Pockels effect
practical effect
primacy effect
Purkinje effect
Pygmalion effect
pyroelectric effect
quantum Hall effect
resonance effect
ripple effect
runaway albedo effect
Schwinger effect
Seebeck effect
side effect
Signor-Lipps effect
site effect
skin effect
snowball effect
sound effect
special effect
spillover effect
spoiler effect
spot effect
stack effect
Stark effect
status effect
Tetris effect
Thatcher effect
threshold effect
trans effect
triboelectric effect
Venturi effect
visual effect
white coat effect
Woozle effect
Yarkovsky effect
YORP effect
Zeeman effect
Zeigarnik effect
related terms
feckless
verb
effect (third-person singular simple present effects, present participle effecting, simple past and past participle effected)
(transitive) To make or bring about; to implement.
Misspelling of affect.
Examples
The best way to effect change is to work with existing stakeholders.
The offence thus given naturally effected an entire conversion in the queen's sentiments, and when Arthur returned from hunting, like Potiphar's wife, she charges Launfal with attempting her honour.
The punishment for sodomy, when completely effected, was death, and it was frequently inflicted.
The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m.
Related words
related terms
effectible
effectibility
effective
effectiveness
effectivity
effector
effectual
effectuate
efficacious
efficacity
efficacy
efficiency
efficient