effect
/ɪˈfɛkt/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.02 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An alteration, or device for producing an alteration, in sound after it has been produced by an instrument.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The effect of the hurricane was a devastated landscape."
- "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."
- "patchwork […] introduced for oratorical effect"
- "The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Latin efficiō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin effectuslbor. Old French effectbor. Middle English effect English effect Of the 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. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs Proto-Italic *eks Latin ex Latin ex- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Latin efficiō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin effectus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Medieval Latin effectuōder. Middle English effecten English effect Of the 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, effect, effectus, fremming, effecten, effectuō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪˈfɛkt/
- British English: /ɪˈfɛkt/