Online Etymology Dictionary

effect (n.): late 14c., "a result," from O.Fr. efet (13c., Mod.Fr. effet) "result, execution, completion, ending," from L. effectus "accomplishment, performance," from pp. stem of efficere "work out, accomplish," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + facere "to do" (see factitious). Meaning "impression produced on the beholder" is from 1736. Sense in stage effect, sound effect, etc. first recorded 1881. The verb is from 1580s. Related: Effecting; effection.
effectual: late 14c., O.Fr. effectuel, from L.L. effectualis, from L. effectus "accomplishment, performance" (see effect). Used properly of actions (not agents) and with a sense "having the effect aimed at." Related: Effectually; effectuality.
effective: late 14c., from Fr. effectif, from L. effectivus "productive, effective," from effect-, stem of efficere (see effect). Effectively in the sense of "actually" is attested by 1650s. Related: Effectivity.
effects: "goods, property," 1704, plural of effect.
effected: "brought about," pp. adj. from effect. Sometimes used erroneously for affected.
effectuate: 1570s, from Fr. effectuer, from L. effectus (see effect). Related: Effectuated; effectuating.
efficient: "capable of producing the desired effect," late 14c., "making, producing immediate effect," from O.Fr. efficient and directly from L. efficientem (nom. efficiens) "effective, efficient, producing, active," prp. of efficere "work out, accomplish" (see effect). Meaning "productive, skilled" is from 1787. Related: Efficiently.
feckless: 1590s, from feck, "effect, value, vigor" (late 15c.), Scottish shortened form of effect; popularized by Carlyle, who left its opposite, feckful, in dialectal obscurity.
side effect: 1884, from side (adj.) + effect (n.). Medical use, with reference to medicines, is recorded from 1939.
operate: c.1600, "to be in effect," from L. operari "to work, labor" (in L.L. "to have effect, be active, cause"); see operation. Surgical sense is first attested 1799. Meaning "to work machinery" is from 1864 in Amer.Eng. Operating system in the computer sense is from 1961.
Doppler: 1871, in reference to Christian Doppler (1803-1853), Austrian scientist, who in 1842 explained the effect of relative motion on waves (originally to explain color changes in binary stars); proved by musicians performing on a moving train. Doppler shift is the change of frequency resulting from the Doppler effect.
wah-wah: 1926, in jazz slang, in ref. to the effect on brass instruments made by manipulating the mute; of imitative origin. Later also in ref. to an electric guitar effect. As an imitation of the sound of a baby crying, it is recorded from 1938. Wah-wah pedal is recorded from 1969. Cf. Chinook jargon wawa "talk, speak, call, ask, sermon, language;" Cree (Algonquian) wehwew "goose," Lenape (Algonquian) wava "snow goose," all probably of imitative origin.
biff: "to hit," 1888, imitative (as a sound effect, from 1847). As a noun, attested from 1889.
zap: 1929 (sound effect), 1942 (v.), comic strip word (especially from "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century"), of imitative origin. Meaning "to erase electronically" is 1982.
executioner: "headsman," 1560s; "one who carries into effect," 1590s; agent noun from execution.
implosion: "a bursting inward," 1877, modeled on explosion (q.v.). Originally in ref. to effect of deep sea pressures. Figurative sense is from 1960.
virtually: early 15c., "as far as essential qualities or facts are concerned;" from virtual. Sense of "in effect, as good as" is recorded from c.1600.
wallbanger: cocktail made from vodka or gin and orange juice, 1970, in full Harvey wallbanger. Probably so called from its effect on the locomotive skills of the consumer.
violent: mid-14c.; see violence. In M.E. the word also was applied in reference to heat, sunlight, smoke, etc., with the sense "having some quality so strongly as to produce a powerful effect." Related: Violently.
expressionist: an artist who seeks to portray the emotional effect of the subject, first recorded 1850 (adj.), from expression. Modern sense is from 1914, from expressionism (from 1908 as an artistic style or movement).
hangover: 1894, "survival," from hang + over. Meaning "after-effect of drinking too much" is first attested 1904, on notion of something left over from the night before.
ambiance: 1923, a reborrowing of the Fr. form of ambience, used in art writing as a term meaning "atmospheric effect of an arrangement" (see ambient).
jar (v.): "to make a harsh, grating sound," 1520s, usually said to be echoic or imitative, but no one explains how, or of what. Figurative sense of "have an unpleasant effect on" is from 1530s. Related: Jarred; jarring.
clothesline: 1830, from clothes + line. As a kind of high tackle in football (the effect is similar to running into a taut clothesline) attested by 1970, also as a verb.
narcissus: "type of bulbous flowering plant," 1540s, from Latin, from Gk. narkissos, probably from a pre-Greek Aegean word, but associated with Gk. narke "numbness" (see narcotic) because of the plant's sedative effect.
ept: 1938, back formation from inept, usually with an attempt at comical effect. Related: Eptitude; eptly.
pointless: early 14c., “blunt,” from point (n.) + -less. Meaning “of no effect, to no purpose” is from 1726. Related: Pointlessly.
Coriolis effect: 1969 (earlier Coriolis force, 1923, and other references back to 1912), from the name of French scientist Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis (1792–1843) who described it c.1835.
inefficient: 1750, "not producing the desired effect," from in- "not" + efficient (q.v.). Related: Inefficiency.
available: mid-15c., "beneficial," also "valid, effective, capable of producing the desired effect," from avail + -able. Meaning "at one's disposal, capable of being made use of" is recorded from 1827. Related: Availability (1803).
a priori: 1710, "from cause to effect" (a logical term, in ref. to reasoning), Latin, lit. "from what comes first," from priori, ablative of prior "first" (see prior (adj.)). Used loosely for "in accordance with previous knowledge" (1834).
slapstick: "farcical physical comedy, horseplay," 1926, from slapstick (1896) a device consisting of two sticks fastened together so as to slap loudly when a clown or actor hits somebody with it, or to make a sound-effect offstage; from slap and stick.
drastic: 1690s, originally medical, "forceful, vigorous, especially in effect on bowels," from Gk. drastikos "effective, efficacious; active, violent," from drasteon "(thing) to be done," from dran "to do, act, perform." Sense of "extreme, severe" is first recorded 1808. Related: Drastically.
greenhouse: 1660s, from green + house. Greenhouse effect attested from 1937.
marginal: 1570s, “written on the margin,” from M.L. marginalis, from L. margo (see margin). Sense of "of little effect or importance" first recorded 1887. Related: Marginally.
anticlimax: "the addition of a particular which suddenly lowers the effect," 1727, coined by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), from anti- + climax. Anticlimactic (also anti-climactic) is attested from 1898.
virtual: late 14c., "influencing by physical virtues or capabilities," from M.L. virtualis, from L. virtus "excellence, potency, efficacy," lit. "manliness, manhood" (see virtue). The meaning of "being something in essence or fact, though not in name" is first recorded 1650s, probably via sense of "capable of producing a certain effect" (early 15c.). Computer sense of "not physically existing but made to appear by software" is attested from 1959.
ineffectual: early 15c., from in- "not" + effectual (see effect).
choleric (adj.): mid-14c., colrik, "bilious of temperament or complexion," from O.Fr. colerique, from L.L. cholericus, from Gk. kholerikos (see choler). Meaning "easily angered, hot-tempered" is from 1580s (from the supposed effect of excess choler); that of "pertaining to cholera" is from 1834.
procure: late 13c., "bring about, cause, effect," from O.Fr. procurer (13c.), from L.L. procurare "to take for, take care of," in L., "manage, take care of," from pro- "in behalf of" + curare "care for." Main modern sense is via "taking pains to get" (c.1300). Meaning "to obtain (women) for sexual gratification" is attested from c.1600.
placebo: early 13c., name given to the rite of Vespers of the Office of the Dead, so called from the opening of the first antiphon, "I will please the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm cxiv:9), from L. placebo "I shall please," future indic. of placere "to please" (see please). Medical sense is first recorded 1785, "a medicine given more to please than to benefit the patient." Placebo effect attested from 1950.
inefficacy: "want of force or virtue to produce the desired effect," 1612, from L.L. inefficacia, from inefficacem (nom. inefficax), from in- "not" + efficax (see efficacy).
operative (adj.): 1590s, "producing the intended effect," from L.L. operativus "creative, formative," from operatus, pp. of operari (see operation). Weakened sense of "significant, important" is from 1955. The noun meaning "worker, operator" is from 1809; sense of "secret agent, spy" is first attested 1930, probably from its use by the Pinkerton Detective Agency as a title for their private detectives (1905).
impact (v.): c.1600, "press closely into something," from L. impactus, pp. of impingere "to push into, dash against" (see impinge). Originally sense preserved in impacted teeth (1876). Sense of "strike forcefully against something" first recorded 1916. Figurative sense began with use as a noun (1817, first in Coleridge) meaning "effect of coming into contact with a thing or person."
borage: flowering plant used in salads, mid-13c., from Anglo-Norm., from O.Fr. borage (13c., Mod.Fr. bourrache), from M.L. borrago. Klein says this is ultimately from Arabic abu drak, lit. "the father of sweat," so called by Arab physicians for its effect on humans. But OED says it's from L. borra "rough hair, short wool," in reference to the texture of the foliage.
perform: c.1300, "carry into effect, fulfill, discharge," via Anglo-Fr. performir, altered (by infl. of O.Fr. forme "form") from O.Fr. parfornir "to do, carry out, finish, accomplish," from par- "completely" + fornir "to provide" (see furnish). Theatrical/musical sense is from 1610.
torpedo: c.1520, "electric ray," from L. torpedo, originally "numbness" (from the effect of being jolted by the ray's electric discharges), from torpere "be numb" (see torpor). The sense of "explosive device used to blow up enemy ships" is first recorded 1776, as a floating mine; the self-propelled version is from 1860s. The verb is first recorded 1873; the fig. sense is attested from 1895.
efficacious: "sure to have the desired effect" (often of medicines), 1520s, from L. efficaci-, stem of efficax (see efficacy) + -ous. Related: Efficaciously; efficaciousness.
speechless: O.E. spæcleas “permanently mute;” see speach + -less. Meaning “mute by effect of astonishment” is from late 14c. Related: Speechlessly; speechlessness.
reception: late 14c., in astrology, "effect of two planets on each other;" sense of "act of receiving" is recorded from late 15c., from L. receptionem (nom. receptio) "a receiving," from receptus, pp. of recipere (see receive). Sense of "ceremonial gathering" is 1882, from French.