Search Word
- effect
-
/əˈfɛkt/ (say uh'fekt),
/i-/ (say ee-)
noun 1. that which is produced by some agency or cause; a result; a consequence: the effect of heat.
2. power to produce results; efficacy; force; validity; weight: of no effect.
3. the state of being operative; operation or execution; accomplishment or fulfilment: to bring a plan into effect.
4. a mental impression produced, as by a painting, speech, etc.
5. the result intended; purport or intent; tenor or significance: he wrote to that effect.
6. (of stage properties) a sight, sound or, occasionally, smell simulated by artificial means to give a particular impression in a theatre.
7. a scientific phenomenon: the Doppler effect.
8. (plural) goods; movables; personal property.
–verb (t) 9. to produce as an effect; bring about; accomplish; make happen.
10. to produce or make.
–phrase 11. be in effect, be in operation, as a law.
12. come into effect, become operative, as a law.
13. for effect, for the sake of a desired impression; with histrionic intent: *Allowing a pause for effect, he swung round with a possible joke on his lips, to discover the doorway empty. –rodney hall, 1987.
14. in effect, in fact or reality, although perhaps not formally acknowledged as such: he is in effect the leader.
15. take effect, to begin to operate, as a drug, etc.
[Middle English, from Latin effectus, from efficere bring about]
–effecter, noun
–effectible, adjective
Usage: Effect is commonly confused with affect.