Word definition: effect

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

Data provided by Wiktionary