effect: Meaning and Definition of

ef•fect

Pronunciation: (i-fekt'), [key]
— n.
  1. something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence: Exposure to the sun had the effect of toughening his skin.
  2. power to produce results; efficacy; force; validity; influence: His protest had no effect.
  3. the state of being effective or operative; operation or execution; accomplishment or fulfillment: to bring a plan into effect.
  4. a mental or emotional impression produced, as by a painting or a speech.
  5. meaning or sense; purpose or intention: She disapproved of the proposal and wrote to that effect.
  6. the making of a desired impression: We had the feeling that the big, expensive car was only for effect.
  7. an illusory phenomenon: a three-dimensional effect.
  8. a real phenomenon (usually named for its discoverer): the Doppler effect.
  9. See
  10. His silence was in effect a confirmation of the rumor.
    1. for practical purposes; virtually:His silence was in effect a confirmation of the rumor.
    2. essentially; basically.
    3. operating or functioning; in force:The plan is now in effect.
  11. The prescribed medicine failed to take effect.
    1. to go into operation; begin to function.
    2. to produce a result:The prescribed medicine failed to take effect.
—v.t.
  1. to produce as an effect; bring about; accomplish; make happen: The new machines finally effected the transition to computerized accounting last spring.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: