ef·fect ( -f kt )n.1. Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result. 2. The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance. 3. A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect. 4. Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury. 5. The condition of being in full force or execution: a new regulation that goes into effect tomorrow. 6. a. Something that produces a specific impression or supports a general design or intention: The lighting effects emphasized the harsh atmosphere of the drama. b. A particular impression: large windows that gave an effect of spaciousness. c. Production of a desired impression: spent lavishly on dinner just for effect. 7. The basic or general meaning; import: He said he was greatly worried, or words to that effect. 8. effects Movable belongings; goods. tr.v. ef·fect·ed, ef·fect·ing, ef·fects 1. To bring into existence. 2. To produce as a result. 3. To bring about. See Usage Note at affect1. Idiom: in effect In essence; to all purposes: testimony that in effect contradicted her earlier statement.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin effectus, from past participle of efficere, to accomplish : ex-, ex- + facere, to make; see dh - in Indo-European roots.]
ef·fecter n. ef·fecti·ble adj. Synonyms: effect, consequence, result, outcome, upshot, sequel These nouns denote an occurrence, situation, or condition that is caused by an antecedent. An effect is produced by the action of an agent or a cause and follows it in time: "Every cause produces more than one effect" Herbert Spencer. A consequence has a less sharply definable relationship to its cause: "Servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt" John P. Curran. A result is viewed as the end product of the operation of the cause: "Judging from the results I have seen ... I cannot say ... that I agree with you" William H. Mallock. An outcome more strongly implies finality and may suggest the operation of a cause over a relatively long period: The trial's outcome might have changed if the defendant had testified. An upshot is a decisive result, often of the nature of a climax: "The upshot of the matter ... was that she showed both of them the door" Robert Louis Stevenson. A sequel is a consequence that ensues after a lapse of time: "Our dreams are the sequel of our waking knowledge" Ralph Waldo Emerson. See Also Synonyms at perform. |
effect Noun 1. a change or state of affairs caused by something or someone: the gales have had a serious effect on the crops 2. power to influence or produce a result: the wine had little effect on him 3. the condition of being operative: a new law has come into effect 4. the overall impression: the whole effect is one of luxury 5. basic meaning or purpose: words to that effect 6. an impression, usually a contrived one: he paused for effect 7. a physical phenomenon: the greenhouse effect 8. in effect for all practical purposes: in effect he has no choice 9. take effect to begin to produce results Verb to cause (something) to take place: a peace treaty was effected [Latin efficere to accomplish]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. |  effect - a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for business"; "he acted very wise after the event"phenomenon - any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning offspring, materialisation, materialization - something that comes into existence as a result; "industrialism prepared the way for acceptance of the French Revolution's various socialistic offspring"; "this skyscraper is the solid materialization of his efforts" aftereffect - any result that follows its cause after an interval aftermath, wake, backwash - the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event); "the aftermath of war"; "in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured" bandwagon effect - the phenomenon of a popular trend attracting even greater popularity; "in periods of high merger activity there is a bandwagon effect with more and more firms seeking to engage in takeover activity"; "polls are accused of creating a bandwagon effect to benefit their candidate" brisance - the shattering or crushing effect of a sudden release of energy as in an explosion butterfly effect - the phenomenon whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere, e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings in Rio de Janeiro might change the weather in Chicago change - the result of alteration or modification; "there were marked changes in the lining of the lungs"; "there had been no change in the mountains" coattails effect - (politics) the consequence of one popular candidate in an election drawing votes for other members of the same political party; "he counted on the coattails effect to win him the election" Coriolis effect - (physics) an effect whereby a body moving in a rotating frame of reference experiences the Coriolis force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation; on Earth the Coriolis effect deflects moving bodies to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere dent - an appreciable consequence (especially a lessening); "it made a dent in my bank account" domino effect - the consequence of one event setting off a chain of similar events (like a falling domino causing a whole row of upended dominos to fall) harvest - the consequence of an effort or activity; "they gathered a harvest of examples"; "a harvest of love" wallop, impact - a forceful consequence; a strong effect; "the book had an important impact on my thinking"; "the book packs a wallop" influence - the effect of one thing (or person) on another; "the influence of mechanical action" product - a consequence of someone's efforts or of a particular set of circumstances; "skill is the product of hours of practice"; "his reaction was the product of hunger and fatigue" placebo effect - any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do; pharmacologists were the first to talk about placebo effects but now the idea has been generalized to many situations having nothing to do with drugs position effect - (genetics) the effect on the expression of a gene that is produced by changing its location in a chromosome repercussion, reverberation - a remote or indirect consequence of some action; "his declaration had unforeseen repercussions"; "reverberations of the market crash were felt years later" response - a result; "this situation developed in response to events in Africa" fallout, side effect - any adverse and unwanted secondary effect; "a strategy to contain the fallout from the accounting scandal" spillover - (economics) any indirect effect of public expenditure | | 2. | effect - an outward appearance; "he made a good impression"; "I wanted to create an impression of success"; "she retained that bold effect in her reproductions of the original painting"figure - the impression produced by a person; "he cut a fine figure"; "a heroic figure" image - the general impression that something (a person or organization or product) presents to the public; "although her popular image was contrived it served to inspire music and pageantry"; "the company tried to project an altruistic image" mark - the impression created by doing something unusual or extraordinary that people notice and remember; "it was in London that he made his mark"; "he left an indelible mark on the American theater" tout ensemble - a total impression or effect of something made up of individual parts | | 3. | effect - an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived); "he just did it for effect"impression, notion, belief, feeling, opinion - a vague idea in which some confidence is placed; "his impression of her was favorable"; "what are your feelings about the crisis?"; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying" sound effect - an effect that imitates a sound called for in the script of a play special effect - an effect used to produce scenes that cannot be achieved by normal techniques (especially on film) | | 4. | effect - the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary workmeaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous" | | 5. | effect - (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect"law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" | | 6. | effect - a symptom caused by an illness or a drug; "the effects of sleep loss"; "the effect of the anesthetic"symptom - (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease aftereffect - a delayed effect of a drug or therapy; "the drug had unexpected aftereffects" bummer - a bad reaction to a hallucinogenic drug side effect - a secondary and usually adverse effect of a drug or therapy; "severe headaches are one of the side effects of the drug" | | Verb | 1. | effect - produce; "The scientists set up a shock wave"draw, get - earn or achieve a base by being walked by the pitcher; "He drew a base on balls" precipitate - bring about abruptly; "The crisis precipitated by Russia's revolution" cause, do, make - give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" serve - contribute or conduce to; "The scandal served to increase his popularity" | | 2. | effect - act so as to bring into existence; "effect a change"act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" bring to bear - bring into operation or effect; "The new members brought to bear new concerns to the U.N." carry - extend to a certain degree; "carry too far"; "She carries her ideas to the extreme" backdate - make effective from an earlier date; "The increase in tax was backdated to January" |
effect noun 3. purpose, meaning, impression, sense, import, drift, intent, essence, thread, tenor, purport verb 5. bring about, make, cause, produce, create, complete, achieve, perform, carry out, fulfil, accomplish, execute, initiate, give rise to, consummate, actuate, effectuate >> in effect in fact, really, actually, essentially, virtually, effectively, in reality, in truth, as good as, in actual fact, to all intents and purposes, in all but name, in actuality, for practical purposes put, bring or carry into effect implement, perform, carry out, fulfil, enforce, execute, bring about, put into action, put into operation, bring into force take effect produce results, work, begin, come into force, become operative USAGE It is quite common for the verb effect to be mistakenly used where affect is intended. Effect is relatively uncommon and rather formal, and is a synonym of `bring about'. Conversely, the noun effect is quite often mistakenly written with an initial a. The following are correct: the group is still recovering from the effects of the recession; they really are powerless to effect any change. The next two examples are incorrect: the full affects of the shutdown won't be felt for several more days; men whose lack of hair doesn't effect their self-esteem.  Translations effect [ɪˈfɛkt] n → efectoeffects npl (= property) → efectos mpl;
 effect [ɪˈfɛkt] n → effet meffects npl (Theat) → effets mpl (= property); effets, affaires fpl; his letter is to the effect that ... → sa lettre nous apprend que ...
 effect [ɪˈfɛkt] n → Wirkung f, Effekt m (Theat, Cine etc) → Effekte pl;
 effect [ɪˈfɛkt] n → effettoto put into effect [+ plan] → attuare;
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effect of external radiation on bone
