Word.ws English Dictionary

effect

Syllables: ef·fect/əˈfɛkt//ɪˈfɛkt/

effect noun: the result or outcome of a cause. Also the misspelling of affect.

Noun

effect (countable and uncountable, plural effects)

  1. The result or outcome of a cause.
    • 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.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
  2. Impression left on the mind; sensation produced.
    • patchwork […] introduced for oratorical effect1832 October, unknown author, “The Tears of Parents”, in The Christian Observer, volume 32
    • The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place.1832, Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra
  3. Execution; performance; realization; operation.
    • That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it.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...
    1. (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.
  4. An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")
    • The effect of flying was most convincing.
    • 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.2018, Jimmy Maher, The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga, page 186
  5. (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.
  6. A scientific phenomenon, usually named after its discoverer.
    • Doppler effect
  7. An influence or causal association between two variables.
    • effect size
    • therapeutic effect
  8. (plural-normally) 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.
    • His Goods, Family, and all his Effects were also ſeiz'd every where, and his Family carried into Priſon.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...
  9. Consequence intended; purpose; meaning; general intent; with to.
    • They spake to her to that effect.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Chronicles 34:22
  10. (obsolete) Reality; actual meaning; fact, as distinguished from mere appearance.
    • no other in effect than what it seems1642, John Denham, Cooper's Hill
  11. (obsolete) Manifestation; expression; sign.
    • All the large effects / That troop with majesty.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...

Verb

effect (third-person singular simple present effects, present participle effecting, simple past and past participle effected)

  1. (transitive) To make or bring about; to implement.
    • The best way to effect change is to work with existing stakeholders.
    • The election has affected our society, for it has effected major changes in the government.

Also used as

effect is also the misspelling of affect.

effect meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Gujarati

effect in Hindi

result of an action
असर asar, प्रभाव prabhāv

effect in Urdu

result of an action
اَثَر asar, تاثِیر tāsīr

effect in Bengali

result of an action
ফলাফল pholaphol, প্রভাব probhab, আসর aśor

effect in Gujarati

result of an action
અસર asar, પરિણામ pariṇām, પ્રભાવ prabhāv
More languagesFewer languages
effect in Pashto
اثر asár
effect in Arabic
تَأْثِير taʔṯīr, أَثَر ʔaṯar
effect in Malay
kesan, efek
effect in Thai
ผล pǒn, ผลกระทบ pǒn-grà-tóp, ปรากฏการณ์ bpraa-gòt-dtà-gaan
effect in Vietnamese
hiệu ứng, dẫn đến
effect in Myanmar
အကျိုး a.kyui:

Examples of effect in a sentence

  • 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.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  • Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
  • 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.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 57:
  • The punishment for sodomy, when completely effected, was death, and it was frequently inflicted.1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6):

All 40 example sentences with effect

Synonyms of effect

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of effect

Forms of effect

Noun
pluraleffects
Verb
third-person singular presenteffects
present participleeffecting
past participleeffected
pasteffected

Plural of effect: effects

Origin of 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.

Words formed from effect

Phrases with effect

168 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with effect

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about effect

What does effect mean?
Effect means the result or outcome of a cause.
What is effect in Hindi?
Effect in Hindi is असर (asar), प्रभाव (prabhāv). See Effect meaning in Hindi.
How do you use effect in a sentence?
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.
What part of speech is effect?
Effect can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce effect?
Effect is pronounced /ɪˈfɛkt/ (UK).
What is the plural of effect?
The plural of effect is effects.

Words near effect in the dictionary

  1. effascinating
  2. effascination
  3. effascinations
  4. effay
  5. EFFDS
  6. effect
  7. effect size
  8. effect sizes
  9. effectance
  10. effectances
  11. effectatious

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: effect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-effect.wav, En-us-effect.ogg.

Cite this entry: “effect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/effect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.