What is the difference between effect and impact?
effect | impact |
The result or outcome of a cause. See below.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect , and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.}}
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=1 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Impression left on the mind; sensation produced.
* J. C. Shairp
* Washington Irving
(filmology) An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")
(sound engineering) An alteration in sound after it has been produced by an instrument.
(sound engineering) A device for producing an alteration in sound produced by an instrument.
Execution; performance; realization; operation.
* Shakespeare
# (uncountable) The state of being binding and enforceable, as in a rule, policy, or law.
A scientific phenomenon, usually named after its discoverer.
(usually plural) Belongings, usually as personal effects.
Consequence intended; purpose; meaning; general intent; with to .
* Bible, Chron. xxxiv. 22
(obsolete) Reality; actual meaning; fact, as distinguished from mere appearance.
* Denham
(obsolete) Manifestation; expression; sign.
* Shakespeare
To make or bring about; to implement.
The striking of one body against another; collision.
The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
(chiefly, medicine) A forced impinging.
A significant or strong influence; an effect.
To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.
(proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an on.
To collide or strike.
Impact is a synonym of effect.
As nouns the difference between effect and impact
is that effect is the result or outcome of a cause. See usage notes below.impact is the striking of one body against another; collision.As verbs the difference between effect and impact
is that effect is to make or bring about; to implement while impact is to compress; to compact; to press or pack together.effect
English
(wikipedia effect)Noun
citation, passage=The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […] The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.}}
Obama goes troll-hunting, passage=The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.}}
- patchwork introduced for oratorical effect
- The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place.
- That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it.
- They spake to her to that effect .
- no other in effect than what it seems
- All the large effects / That troop with majesty.
Usage notes
The words “affect” and “effect'” can both be used as nouns or verbs, but when used as a noun the word affect is limited to uses in the psychology field, and the above definitions for ' effect are much more common. See also the usage notes as a verb below. Adjectives often applied to "effect": * biological, chemical, cultural, economic, legal, mental, moral, nutritional, personal, physical, physiological, political and social * actual, bad, beneficial, catastrophic, deleterious, disastrous, devastating, fatal, good, harmful, important, intended, likely, natural, negative, positive, potential, primary, real, secondary, significant, special, strong, undesirable and weakDerived terms
(noun phrases using effect) * after-effect, aftereffect * butterfly effect * domino effect * Doppler effect * greenhouse effect * in effect * knock-on effect * Nader effect * personal effects * ripple effect * side effect * snowball effect * special effect * sound effect * spoiler effectVerb
(en verb)- The best way to effect change is to work with existing stakeholders.
Usage notes
Effect' is often confused with “' affect ”. The latter is used to convey the influence over existing ideas, emotions and entities; the former indicates the manifestation of new or original ideas or entities: * “...new governing coalitions have effected major changes” indicates that major changes were made as a result of new governing coalitions. * “...new governing coalitions have affected major changes” indicates that before new governing coalitions, major changes were in place, and that the new governing coalitions had some influence over these existing changes.Statistics
*impact
English
Noun
(en noun)- The hatchet cut the wood on impact .
- His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact , which caused numbness in his leg.
- His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
- Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.
Usage notes
* Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary. * The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above) * There are English speakers who are so ). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect'' and the verb sense with ''affect , which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)Derived terms
* impactful * impactive * impact statement * Western impactVerb
(en verb)- If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.
- ''I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
- When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.