effete

English

Alternative forms

• effœte

Etymology

From Latin effetus (“that has given birth; exhausted”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɪˈfiːt/
• (US) IPA: /ɪˈfit/
  • Rhymes: -iːt

Adjective

effete (comparative more effete, superlative most effete)

1. (obsolete) Of substances, quantities etc: exhausted, spent, worn-out.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.4.1.v:

     Nature is not effœte, as he saith, or so lavish, to bestow all her gifts upon an age, but hath reserved some for posterity, to shew her power, that she is still the same, and not old or consumed.

2. (now rare) Of people: lacking strength or vitality; feeble, powerless, impotent.
3. Decadent, self-indulgent.

Translations

lacking strength

• Bulgarian: изчерпан (bg) (izčerpan), изтощен (bg) (iztošten)

• Romanian: slăbit (ro)
• Russian: истощённый (ru) (istoščónnyj)

decadent

• Bulgarian: упадъчен (bg) (upadǎčen)

• Russian: упаднический (ru) (upadničeskij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: affaibli

Derived terms

• effetely
• effeteness

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Latin

Adjective

effēte

1. vocative masculine singular of effētus