Where does “effective” come from?
Effective comes from French effectif, derived from French effet and the Latin suffix -ivus, ultimately from Latin ex- and facio meaning "to make" or "to do."
effective (English): Having the power to produce a required effect or...
Definitions
- Having the power to produce a required effect or...
Ancestry of “effective”, step by step
effective traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English effect
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | effect | The result or outcome of a cause; Impression left... |
| 2 | Middle English | effect | — |
| 3 | Old French | effect | effect; judgment; decree |
| 4 | Latin | effectus | made out, worked out, completed, finished,... |
| 5 | Latin | efficiō | to make out or work out; effect, execute, complete, accomplish, make, form, compose |
| 6 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 7 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 8 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 9 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
via French effectif
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | effectif | number of members of a group; lineup; real,... |
| 2 | Latin | effectīvus | creative |