effect

ef•fect

[[t]ɪˈfɛkt[/t]] n.

1) something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence

2) power to produce results; efficacy; force:

The protest had no effect[/ex]

3) the state of being effective or operative; operation or execution:

to bring a plan into effect[/ex]

4) a mental or emotional impression produced, as by a painting or speech

5) general meaning or purpose; intent:

I wrote a letter to that effect[/ex]

6) the making of a desired impression:

The expensive car was only for effect[/ex]

7) an illusory phenomenon:

a three-dimensional effect[/ex]

8) a scientific phenomenon (usu. named for its discoverer):

the Doppler effect[/ex]

9) to produce as an effect; bring about; accomplish:

to effect a change[/ex]

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- in effect take effect

Etymology: 1350–1400; ME < L effectus the carrying out (of a task, etc.), hence, that which is achieved, outcome ef•fect′i•ble, adj. syn: effect, consequence, result refer to something produced by an action or a cause. An effect is that which is produced, usu. more or less immediately and directly: The drug had the effect of producing sleep. A consequence, something that follows naturally or logically, as in a train of events or sequence of time, is less intimately connected with its cause than is an effect: One consequence of a recession is a rise in unemployment. A result may be near or remote, and often is the sum of effects or consequences as making an end or final outcome: The English language is the result of the fusion of many different elements. usage: See affect I .