Where does “inefficacy” come from?
Inefficacy comes from Middle English in- combined with Latin efficacia (from efficax, meaning "effective"), ultimately deriving from Latin ex- and facio meaning "to do" or "to make."
inefficacy (English): The condition of being ineffective
Definitions
- The condition of being ineffective
Ancestry of “inefficacy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | efficacy | Ability to produce a desired effect under ideal... |
| 2 | Old French | efficace | — |
| 3 | Latin | efficacia | efficacy, effectiveness, efficiency; virtue;... |
| 4 | Latin | efficāx | efficacious, effectual, powerful, efficient |
| 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 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 16 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 17 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |