effective

English Online Dictionary. What means effective‎? What does effective mean?

English

Alternative forms

• eff.

Etymology

From French effectif, from Latin effectīvus (“productive; effective”), from efficiō (“I make; I bring about”).

Pronunciation

• (weak vowel distinction) IPA^(key): /ɪˈfɛktɪv/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /əˈfɛktɪv/
• Homophone: affective (weak vowel merger)
• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Adjective

effective (comparative more effective, superlative most effective)

1. Having the power to produce a required effect or effects.

   Synonym: efficacious

2. Producing a decided or decisive effect.
3. Efficient, serviceable, or operative, available for useful work.

   Antonym: nominal

4. Actually in effect.

5. (geometry, of a cycle or divisor) Having no negative coefficients.
6. (physics, for any effective theory) approximate; Not describing the fundamental dynamic changes in some system as they happen.

Usage notes

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 lists efficient and effective as synonyms, but all major dictionaries now show that these words now only have different meanings in careful use. Use of both for the other meaning is however widespread enough that Longman's Exam Dictionary, for example, finds it necessary to proscribe the use of one for the other with several examples at each entry and provides the following summary:

• efficient = working quickly and without waste
• effective = having the desired effect

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

effective (plural effectives)

1. (military) a soldier fit for duty

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.fɛk.tiv/
• Homophone: effectives

Adjective

effective

1. feminine singular of effectif

Latin

Adjective

effectīve

1. vocative masculine singular of effectīvus