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effect [effect 词源字典]: effect: [14] Etymologically, an effect is that which is ‘accomplished’ or ‘done’. The word comes (probably via Old French effect) from effectus, the past participle of Latin efficere ‘perform, accomplish, complete’, or literally ‘work out’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and facēre ‘make, do’ (source of English fact, factory, etc).

The English verbal use, ‘bring about’, is a 16th-century development based on the noun. (The similar affect also comes ultimately from Latin facēre, but with the prefix ad- ‘to’ rather than ex-.) Latin efficere is also the source of English efficacious [16] and efficient [14]. The feck- of feckless is an abbreviated version of effect.
=> efficacious, efficient, fact, factory, fashion, feckless[effect etymology, effect origin, 英语词源]
effect (n.): mid-14c., "execution or completion (of an act)," from Old French efet (13c., Modern French effet) "result, execution, completion, ending," from Latin effectus "accomplishment, performance," from past participle stem of efficere "work out, accomplish," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + facere "to do" (see factitious). From French, borrowed into Dutch, German, Scandinavian.

From late 14c. as "power or capacity to produce an intended result; efficacy, effectiveness," and in astrology, "operation or action (of a heavenly body) on human affairs; influence." Also "that which follows from something else; a consequence, a result." From early 15c. as "intended result, purpose, object, intent." Also formerly with a sense of "reality, fact," hence in effect (late 14c.), originally "in fact, actually, really." Meaning "impression produced on the beholder" is from 1736. Sense in stage effect, sound effect, etc. first recorded 1881.
efficacy (n.): 1520s, from Latin efficacia "efficacy, efficiency," from efficax (genitive efficacis) "powerful, effectual, efficient," from stem of efficere "work out, accomplish" (see effect (n.)). Earlier in same sense was efficace (c. 1200), from Old French eficace (14c.), from Latin efficacia; also efficacite (early 15c.), from Latin efficacitatem.
efficient (adj.): late 14c., "making, producing immediate effect, active, effective," from Old French efficient and directly from Latin efficientem (nominative efficiens) "effective, efficient, producing, active," present participle of efficere "work out, accomplish" (see effect). Meaning "productive, skilled" is from 1787. Related: Efficiently.
elaborate (v.): c. 1600, "to build up from simple elements," from Latin elaboratus, past participle of elaborare "to labor, endeavor, struggle, work out" (see elaboration). Meaning "to work out in detail" is attested from 1610s. Related: Elaborated; elaborating.
elaboration (n.): 1570s, in a physiological sense relating to tissue development, from Late Latin elaborationem (nominative elaboratio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin elaborare "work out, produce by labor, endeavor, struggle," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + laborare "to labor" (see labor (v.)). Meaning "act of working out in great exactness and detail" is from 1610s.
figure (v.): late 14c., "to represent" (in painting or sculpture), "make a likeness," also "to have a certain shape or appearance," from Old French figurer, from Latin figurare (see figure (n.)). Meaning "to shape into" is c. 1400; from mid-15c. as "to cover or adorn with figures." Meaning "to picture in the mind" is from c. 1600. Intransitive meaning "make an appearance, make a figure, show oneself" is from c. 1600. Meaning "work out a sum" (by means of arithmetical figures) is from 1833, American English; hence colloquial sense "to calculate upon, expect" (1837). Related: Figured; figuring.
success (n.): 1530s, "result, outcome," from Latin successus "an advance, a coming up; a good result, happy outcome," noun use of past participle of succedere "come after" (see succeed). Meaning "accomplishment of desired end" (good success) first recorded 1580s. Meaning "a thing or person which succeeds," especially in public, is from 1882.
The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease. [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]
Success story is attested from 1902. Among the French phrases reported by OED as in use in English late 19c. were succès d'estime "cordial reception given to a literary work out of respect rather than admiration" and succès de scandale "success (especially of a work of art) dependent upon its scandalous character."
workout (n.): 1909, "boxing bout for training," from work (v.) + out (adv.). General sense of "spell of strenuous physical exercise" is attested by 1922. Verbal phrase work out "solve" (a problem, etc.) is from 1848. Sense of "succeed" attested by 1909.