efficax Latin · revision 32330

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1st century BC, Caelius|origins=la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɛf.fɪ.kaːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛf.fi.kaks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''efficāx''' (genitive efficācis, adverb efficāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|efficiō|-āx|t1=to bring about, accomplish]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) [[m|la|efficiō]] is formed from [[m|la|ex-]] and [[m|la|faciō|t=to do, make]].^(Wiktionary) Late grammarians explained it as “taking effect”, and Priscian as a compound of altered forms of ⟨ex⟩ and ⟨fac-⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler finds it first in Marcus Caelius Rufus,^(Köbler 2010) who writes to Cicero how slow and ineffective a certain Marcellus is.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means effective, able to do what is required, of persons, as Horace's mighty Hercules, and of things, above all medicines and charms: Horace yields to an effective magic art, and Pliny the Elder often calls a plant effective against a complaint or very effective against arrow wounds.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In law it is valid, as in Ulpian.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that it is mostly post-Augustan and absent from Cicero and Caesar.^(Lewis & Short 1879) English [[m|en|efficacious]] was formed from its stem in the 1520s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1st century BC – Caelius of an ineffective man.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of Hercules and of a magic art.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of effective remedies.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian of a legally valid act.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English [[m|en|efficacious]] is formed from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|effective|alt=Effective]], efficient, [[m|en|powerful]], of persons.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of things, especially remedies, [[m|en|efficacious]], effectual.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' Valid.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[efficācia]]

+ * [[efficācitās]]

+ * [[inefficāx]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}