Effectiveness

How to spell effectiveness

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce effectiveness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does effectiveness mean?

1. nounThe degree to which something successfully produces an intended result.

Effectiveness in a sentence

• The report questioned the effectiveness of the new marketing campaign.

• Managers measured the effectiveness of the training by tracking later performance.

Where does effectiveness come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on the Latin verb efficere, meaning 'to work out' or 'to accomplish', which combined ex 'out' with facere 'to make or do'; the literal sense was bringing something fully into being. From efficere came the past participle effectus, the source of the English noun 'effect', borrowed through Old French in the 1300s. The adjective 'effective' followed, describing something that successfully produces a desired effect, and the abstract noun 'effectiveness' was formed in English by adding the native suffix -ness, meaning a state or quality. The same facere root sits inside a large family of everyday words including 'factory', 'manufacture', and 'perfect'. The spelling trap lies in the doubled letters: the single f doubles to ff after the prefix, while the c stays single, and learners must remember the full -iveness ending rather than dropping the e.

How the word is built

• ef- (from ex-: out)
• fect (from facere: to make/do)
• -ive (adjective: tending to)
• -ness (noun: state/quality)