From Latin 'efficere' (to accomplish) — 'ex-' + 'facere' (to make). Literally 'a thing made out,' sibling of 'fact.'
A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause; the state of being operative or in force.
From Old French 'effect' (modern French 'effet'), from Latin 'effectus' (an accomplishment, a result, a performance), past participle of 'efficere' (to accomplish, to bring about, to make), from 'ex-' (out) + 'facere' (to make, to do), from PIE *dʰeh₁- (to put, to place, to make). The word thus literally means 'a thing made out' or 'a thing accomplished.' It entered English with both its current senses: 'result' and 'the state of being in operation.' Key roots: *dʰeh₁- (Proto-Indo-European: "to put, to place, to make").
The confusion between 'affect' (verb: to influence) and 'effect' (noun: a result) is one of the most persistent in English. But there is a verb 'effect' too — meaning 'to bring about' ('to effect change'). This verb preserves the original Latin sense of 'efficere' (to accomplish) far more directly than the noun does. And there is a noun 'affect' in psychology — meaning 'an emotion
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity