# effect
## English
### Etymology

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.
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.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA: /ɪˈfɛkt/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ɪˈfɛk(t)/, (weak vowel merger) /ə-/, /i-/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* (Malaysia, Singapore) IPA: /iˈfɛkt/
* Homophone: affect (weak vowel merger)
* Rhymes: -ɛkt
* Hyphenation: ef‧fect

### Noun

effect (countable and uncountable, plural effects)
* The result or outcome of a cause.
    Synonyms: consequence; see also Thesaurus:cause
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:cause
** 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC: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.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC: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.
** 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8839, page 55: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.
* Impression left on the mind; sensation produced.
** 1832 October, unknown author, “The Tears of Parents”, in The Christian Observer, volume 32:patchwork […] introduced for oratorical effect
** 1832, Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra:The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place.
* Execution; performance; realization; operation.
** c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it.
** (uncountable) The state of being binding and enforceable, as in a rule, policy, or law.
    The new law will come into effect on the first day of next year.
* (cinematography, computer graphics, demoscene) An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")
    The effect of flying was most convincing.
** 2018, Jimmy Maher, The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga, page 186: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.
* (sound engineering) An alteration, or device for producing an alteration, in sound after it has been produced by an instrument.
    I use an echo effect here to make the sound more mysterious.
    I just bought a couple of great effects.
* (sciences) A scientific phenomenon, usually named after its discoverer.
    Doppler effect
* (sciences, statistics) An influence or causal association between two variables.
    effect size
    therapeutic effect
* (usually in the plural) Belongings, usually as personal effects.
    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.
** 1690, “A Relation of the Late Great Revolution in Siam, and the Driving Out of the French”, in A Full and True Relation of the Great and Wonderful Revolution That Hapned Lately in the Kingdom of Siam in the East-Indies, London: Randal Taylor, page 7:His Goods, Family, and all his Effects were also ſeiz'd every where, and his Family carried into Priſon.
* Consequence intended; purpose; meaning; general intent; with to.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Chronicles 34:22:They spake to her to that effect.
* (obsolete) Reality; actual meaning; fact, as distinguished from mere appearance.
** 1642, John Denham, Cooper's Hill:no other in effect than what it seems
* (obsolete) Manifestation; expression; sign.
** c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:All the large effects / That troop with majesty.

#### Usage notes

Not to be confused with affect.

#### 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
* Gluskina effect
* grapevine effect
* greenhouse effect
* ground effect
* gyromagnetic effect
* Hall effect
* Hanbury-Brown-Twiss effect
* Hill-Robertson effect
* hothouse effect
* ideomotor effect
* ill effect
* inductive effect
* isotope effect
* Joule-Thomson effect
* knock-on effect
* lake effect
* Littler effect
* Lombard effect
* lotus effect
* Marangoni effect
* mass effect
* Matthew effect
* mesomeric effect
* Mössbauer effect
* Nader effect
* neighbourhood effect
* nocebo effect
* October effect
* Pauli effect
* Peltier effect
* photoeffect
* photoelectric effect
* photovoltaic effect
* piezoelectric effect
* piezoresistive effect
* placebo_effect
* plateau effect
* Pockels effect
* Poisson 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
* selection 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

#### Derived terms

* Abney effect
* accelerator effect
* acousto-optic effect
* adverse effect
* aha effect
* Aharonov-Bohm effect
* Al Jazeera effect
* Allais effect
* Allee effect
* Amazon effect
* anchoring effect
* Anrep effect
* anti-greenhouse effect
* Askaryan effect
* audience effect
* Auger effect
* Auger-Meitner effect
* Autler-Townes effect
* autokinetic effect
* avalanche effect
* Averch-Johnson effect
* Baader-Meinhof effect
* backfire effect
* Balassa-Samuelson effect
* Baldwin effect
* Bambi effect
* bandwagon effect
* bank effect
* barber pole effect
* Barkhausen effect
* Barnett effect
* Barnum effect
* Baskerville effect
* Bayliss effect
* Ben Franklin effect
* Bernoulli effect
* betavoltaic effect
* Bezold-Brücke effect
* Bezold effect
* Biefeld-Brown effect
* big-fish-little-pond effect
* Bilbao effect
* bioeffect
* birthday effect
* black drop effect
* Blackett effect
* Bohr effect
* boomerang effect
* bouba/kiki effect
* Bowditch effect
* Bradley effect
* Branly effect
* Brazil nut effect
* Bridgman effect
* brown ocean effect
* Bruce effect
* Brussels effect
* bullwhip effect
* butt-brush effect
* by-effect
* bystander effect
* cage effect
* calendar effect
* California effect
* cannonball effect
* capture effect
* Casimir effect
* catapult effect
* catch-up effect
* catfish effect
* cause and effect
* ceiling effect
* Cerenkov effect
* Cheerio effect
* Cheerios effect
* cheerleader effect
* Cher effect
* Cherenkov effect
* chilling effect
* chimney effect
* Christiansen effect
* Christmas tree effect
* Christofilos effect
* Cinderella effect
* cis effect
* Clayden effect
* clientele effect
* closing time effect
* CNN effect
* Coandă effect
* coattail effect
* cobra effect
* cocktail party effect
* coeffect
* cohort effect
* come into effect
* common-ion effect
* common ion effect
* Compton effect
* concentration effect
* Coolidge effect
* Coriolis effect
* corset effect
* Cotton effect
* Cotton-Mouton effect
* countereffect
* Crabtree effect
* cross-race effect
* CSI effect
* cumulative effect
* Cupertino effect
* curb cut effect
* Dead Sea effect
* Debye-Falkenhagen effect
* decoy effect
* Delia effect
* Dellinger effect
* Dember effect
* denomination effect
* desired effect
* Diderot effect
* disposition effect
* distancing effect
* Dole effect
* Dorian Gray effect
* dosis-effect
* double effect
* Downing effect
* Dr. Fox effect
* Droste effect
* Eagle effect
* Early effect
* Eberhard effect
* edge effect
* Edison effect
* effectful
* effection
* effectism
* effectless
* effectome
* effect size
* effectuation
* Einstein–de Haas effect
* Einstellung effect
* electrocaloric effect
* ELIZA effect
* embedding effect
* Emerson effect
* endowment effect
* entourage effect
* Eötvös effect
* Epps effect
* Ettingshausen effect
* eureka effect
* Evershed effect
* experience effect
* Fåhræus effect
* Fåhræus-Lindqvist effect
* Fano effect
* Faraday effect
* -fect
* fect
* Ferguson effect
* Ferranti effect
* field effect
* Fink effect
* flash-lag effect
* floor effect
* Florence Nightingale effect
* flow on effect
* flow-on effect
* Flutie effect
* Flynn effect
* Forbush effect
* Forer effect
* Forrester effect
* founder effect
* framing effect
* Franssen effect
* fraternal birth order effect
* fraternal birth-order effect
* free surface effect
* Frey effect
* Fröhlich effect
* Fujiwhara effect
* FX, F/X
* ganzfeld effect
* gauche effect
* Gell-Mann Amnesia effect
* gem-disubstituent effect
* generation effect
* geodetic effect
* Gerschenkron effect
* Gibbs-Donnan effect
* Gibbs-Marangoni effect
* Gibbs-Thomson effect
* Glasgow effect
* Google effect
* green-beard effect
* ground effect
* ground effect machine
* ground-effect machine
* ground-effect vehicle
* Gruen effect
* Gunn effect
* gunslinger effect
* gyromagnetic effect
* Haas effect
* Haldane effect
* Hall effect
* Hallwachs effect
* halo effect
* Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect
* Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect
* hard-easy effect
* Hawthorne effect
* healthy participant effect
* Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect
* Hohlraum effect
* home market effect
* horizon effect
* Hoskins effect
* hot chocolate effect
* hothouse effect
* Hound of the Baskervilles effect
* household effect
* ideomotor effect
* IKEA effect
* ill-effect
* inductive effect
* in effect
* inert pair effect
* in full effect
* inner-platform effect
* intereffect
* international Fisher effect
* isoeffect
* isotope effect
* jack-in-the-box effect
* Jade Goody effect
* Jahn-Teller effect
* January effect
* Jod-Basedow effect
* Josephson effect
* Joule-Kelvin effect
* Joule-Thomson effect
* Kapitza-Dirac effect
* kappa effect
* Kautsky effect
* Kaye effect
* Kelvin-Joule effect
* Ken Burns effect
* Kerr effect
* Keynes effect
* keystone effect
* kiki/bouba effect
* Kirkendall effect
* knife-edge effect
* Köhler effect
* Kondo effect
* Kuleshov effect
* lake effect
* lake-effect
* Lake Wobegon effect
* Land effect
* Larsen effect
* Las Vegas effect
* late effect
* lawn dart effect
* Lazarus effect
* Lee-Boot effect
* legal effect
* Leidenfrost effect
* Lenard effect
* Lense-Thirring effect
* leveling effect
* Levitin effect
* Lindy effect
* lipstick effect
* Little-Parks effect
* Lorrain Smith effect
* lotus effect
* magnetocaloric effect
* magneto-optic effect
* magneto-optic Kerr effect
* Magnus effect
* maleffect
* Malter effect
* Mandela effect
* Mars effect
* martini effect
* mass effect
* Massenerhebung effect
* maternal effect
* Matilda effect
* McClintock effect
* McCollough effect
* McGurk effect
* Meissner effect
* Mellanby effect
* memory effect
* mere exposure effect
* mesomeric effect
* mid-domain effect
* Miller effect
* Mohring effect
* Moneymaker effect
* Mössbauer effect
* Mould effect
* Mozart effect
* Mpemba effect
* Mullins effect
* Munroe effect
* Munroe-Neumann effect
* name-letter effect
* narrow-width effect
* neglected firm effect
* neighbourhood effect
* Nernst effect
* network effect
* Neumann effect
* nocebo effect
* noodle effect
* Nordtvedt effect
* Novaya Zemlya effect
* nuclear Overhauser effect
* Oberth effect
* oblique effect
* Odagiri effect
* oddity effect
* Okorokov effect
* Olivera-Tanzi effect
* Olympic village effect
* Oprah effect
* or words to that effect
* Osborne effect
* ouzo effect
* overview effect
* Ovsiankina effect
* Pac-Man effect
* Pais effect
* pandemonium effect
* Papageno effect
* Paschen-Back effect
* Pasteur effect
* Paul Bert effect
* Payne effect
* Peltier effect
* Peltzman effect
* Penn effect
* Perky effect
* personal effects
* Petkau effect
* photo-Dember effect
* photoelectric effect
* photoelectromagnetic effect
* photoferroelectric effect
* photovoltaic effect
* piezoelectric effect
* piezoresistive effect
* Pigou effect
* pinch effect
* placebo effect
* plateau effect
* Pockels effect
* popcorn effect
* positivity effect
* Poynting-Robertson effect
* practical effect
* pratfall effect
* precedence effect
* primacy effect
* protégé effect
* Proteus effect
* proximity effect
* psychoeffect
* Pulfrich effect
* pull effect
* Purkinje effect
* Purkyně effect
* Purkyne effect
* put into effect
* Pygmalion effect
* pyroelectric effect
* quantum Hall effect
* quantum Zeno effect
* rally 'round the flag effect
* Raman effect
* Ramsauer-Townsend effect
* ransom note effect
* Rashomon effect
* ratchet effect
* rebound effect
* recency effect
* resonance effect
* reverse Magnus effect
* Ringelmann effect
* Robin Hood effect
* Root effect
* Rosenthal effect
* Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
* Russian novel effect
* Sadler effect
* Sagnac effect
* salt-effect distillation
* Schottky effect
* Schwinger effect
* screen-door effect
* second gas effect
* second-round effect
* second-system effect
* Seebeck effect
* serape effect
* serial position effect
* shadow blister effect
* Shapiro effect
* sheepskin effect
* Shipman effect
* Shubnikov-de Haas effect
* side-effect
* Signor-Lipps effect
* silk screen effect
* Simon effect
* Sisyphus effect
* skin effect
* Slashdot effect
* sleeper effect
* slingshot effect
* small firm effect
* SnackWell effect
* snob effect
* Somogyi effect
* spillover effect
* spin Hall effect
* spot effect
* spotlight effect
* squat effect
* stack effect
* Stark effect
* status effect
* Stockholm effect
* Streisand effect
* Stroop effect
* subeffect
* Suess effect
* Sylvia Plath effect
* Szilard-Chalmers effect
* take effect
* Tanada effect
* Tanzi effect
* tau effect
* teapot effect
* testing effect
* Tetris effect
* Thatcher effect
* thermoeffect
* third-person effect
* Thomson effect
* Thorpe-Ingold effect
* threshold effect
* Ting Hai effect
* Tocqueville effect
* to that effect
* to the effect
* to this effect
* trampoline effect
* trans effect
* transverse flow effect
* trapdoor effect
* trench effect
* triboelectric effect
* Troxler effect
* Twomey effect
* Tyndall effect
* Unruh effect
* Vandenbergh effect
* Veblen effect
* Venturi effect
* venturi effect
* Villari effect
* vital effect
* Voigt effect
* von Restorff effect
* Vroman effect
* wagon-wheel effect
* Wahlund effect
* Wallace effect
* Warburg effect
* washback effect
* watercooler effect
* water cooler effect
* water-cooler effect
* weapons effect
* wedding ring effect
* weekend effect
* Weinstein effect
* Weissenberg effect
* Wellesley effect
* Werther effect
* Westermarck effect
* white coat effect
* Whitten effect
* wick effect
* Wien effect
* Wigner effect
* Wilder effect
* Wilson-Bappu effect
* wing in ground effect
* wing-in-surface-effect ship
* Withgott effect
* Wolff-Chaikoff effect
* women are wonderful effect
* Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect
* YORP effect
* Zeeman effect
* Zeigarnik effect
* zombie effect

#### Related terms

* feckless

#### Collocations

Adjectives often applied to "effect":
* biological, chemical, cultural, economic, legal, mental, moral, nutritional, personal, physical, physiological, political and social
* actual, bad, beneficial, catastrophic, deleterious, disastrous, devastating, fatal, good, harmful, important, intended, likely, natural, negative, positive, potential, primary, real, secondary, significant, special, strong, undesirable and weak

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### 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.
    The best way to effect change is to work with existing stakeholders.
** 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 57: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.
** 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6)‎:The punishment for sodomy, when completely effected, was death, and it was frequently inflicted.
** 1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202: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.
* Misspelling of affect.

#### Usage notes

Effect is often confused with affect. The latter usually suggests influence over existing ideas, emotions and entities. While the former indicates the manifestation of new and/or original ideas or entities:
* “New governing coalitions have effected major changes” indicates that major changes were made as a result of new governing coalitions.
* “New governing coalitions have affected major changes” indicates that before new governing coalitions, major changes were in place, and that the new governing coalitions had some influence over those existing changes.

#### Related terms

* effectibility
* effectible
* effective
* effectiveness
* effectivity
* effector
* effectual
* effectuate
* efficacious
* efficacity
* efficacy
* efficiency
* efficient

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Deterding, David, Hvitfeldt, Robert (1994) “The Features of Singapore English Pronunciation: Implications for Teachers”, in Teaching and Learning‎, volume 15, number 1, pages 98–107

### Further reading

* “effect”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “effect”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch effect, from Old French effect, from Latin effectus. The sense ‘(equitable) security’ borrowed from German Effekt or French effet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɛˈfɛkt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ef‧fect
* Rhymes: -ɛkt

### Noun

effect n (plural effecten, diminutive effectje n)
* effect
* (finance, usually in the plural) security, notably bond or stock
    Hypernym: waardepapier
* (ball games) spin (rotation of a ball)
* (obsolete) personal effect, belonging

#### Derived terms

* effectief

#### Compounds

* broeikaseffect
* domino-effect
* effectbal
* effectenbeurs
* effectenmakelaar
* sneeuwbaleffect

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: effek
* → Indonesian: efek

### References

* ↑ Philippa, Marlies, Debrabandere, Frans, Quak, Arend, Schoonheim, Tanneke, van der Sijs, Nicoline (2003–2009) Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press

## Middle French
### Alternative forms

* effaict

### Etymology

From Old French effect.

### Noun

effect m (plural effects)
* effect

#### Descendants

* French: effet

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin effectus.

### Noun

effect oblique singular, m (oblique plural effecz or effectz, nominative singular effecz or effectz, nominative plural effect)
* effect
* (law) judgment; decree
** punir les contrevenantz solonc l’effect des estatut
    Punish the offender according to the decree of the statute

#### Descendants

* English: effect
* French: effet
* German: Effekt
* Middle Irish: éifecht
** Irish: éifeacht