“ effet ”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 butterfly effect (plural butterfly effects) The technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. (by extension, science fiction) The notion that small changes in the past via time travel can cause disproportionately large and unforeseeable consequences in the present. Effect is often confused with affect. “Effect” indicates the manifestation of new ideas or entities, while “affect” usually suggests influence over existing ideas, emotions, and entities: in effect English Adjective in effect (not comparable) Operating or functioning; in force; in play. Synonym: standing Until the new guidelines come out, the old rules are still in effect. take effect (third-person singular simple present takes effect, present participle taking effect, simple past took effect, past participle taken effect) (informal, of a drug, etc.) To become active; to become effective. Noun effectus m (genitive effectūs); fourth declension the act of doing, making or effecting; execution, accomplishment, completion, performance an effect, result, outcome, operation, tendency, purpose Gell - Mann Amnesia effect (plural Gell-Mann Amnesia effects) The phenomenon of a person trusting newspapers for topics which that person is not knowledgeable about, despite recognizing the newspaper as being extremely inaccurate on certain topics which that person is knowledgeable about. Affect and effect are sometimes confused. Affect conveys influence over something that already exists, but effect indicates the manifestation of new or original ideas or entities: .new policies have effected major changes in government. .new policies have affected major changes in government. The former indicates that major changes were made as a result of new policies, while the. Prepositional phrase to this effect Alternative form of to the effect. “ to the effect that ”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. “ to that effect ”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. “ to this that the effect ” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.