impact

English

Etymology

From Latin impāctus, perfect passive participle of impingō (“dash against, impinge”).

Pronunciation

• (noun): enPR: imʹpăkt, IPA: /ˈɪmpækt/, SAMPA: /"Imp{kt/
• (verb): enPR: im-păktʹ, IPA: /ɪmˈpækt/, SAMPA: /Im"p{kt/
  • Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

impact (plural impacts)

1. The force or energy of a collision of two objects.

   The hatchet cut the wood on impact.

2. (chiefly medicine) A forced impinging.

   His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact, which caused numbness in his leg.

3. A significant or strong influence; an effect.

   His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.

   Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary.

Derived terms

Terms derived from impact (noun)

impactful impactive

impact statement Western impact

Related terms

• impinge

Translations

the force or energy of a collision of two objects

Finnish: iskuvaikutus, törmäys, isku French: impact (fr) m. German: Einschlag (de) m., Aufprall (de) m., Aufschlag (de) m. Hungarian: behatás (hu) Italian: impatto (it) m.

Latin: ictus (la) Norwegian: treffvirkning (no) c. Polish: uderzenie (pl) n. Portuguese: impacto (pt) m. Spanish: impacto (es) m.

a forced impinging

German: Belastung (de) f., Stoß (de) m., Druck (de) m. Italian: impatto (it) m.

Portuguese: impacto (pt) m. Spanish: impacto (es) m.

a significant or strong influence

Czech: dopad (cs) m. Finnish: vaikutus (fi) German: Einwirkung (de) f., Einfluss (de) m., Beeinflussung (de) f. Hungarian: befolyás (hu) Italian: impatto (it) m., effetto (it) m.

Norwegian: virkning (no) c. Polish: wpływ (pl) m. Portuguese: impacto (pt) m. Spanish: impacto (es) m., efecto (es) m., consecuencia (es) f.

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

Malay: pangaruh, kesan French: impact sur, influence sur, choc, collision, impact Interlingua: impacto

Slovak: náraz m., dôsledok m.

Verb

impact (third-person singular simple present impacts, present participle impacting, simple past and past participle impacted)

1. (transitive) To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.

   If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.

2. (transitive, proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an impact on.

   I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.

3. (transitive) To collide or strike.

   When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.

Usage notes

Some authorities object to the use of impact to mean "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on" or to mean "to collide or strike". Such usage seems to be an adaptation of the colloquial noun form of impact to use as a verb.

Derived terms

• impactor

Translations

to compress

Dutch: samenpersen (nl) German: zusammenpressen (de)

Hungarian: összenyomódik (hu) Polish: ściskać (pl)

to influence

Dutch: inwerken (nl), beïnvloeden (nl) Finnish: vaikuttaa (fi) German: beeinflussen (de), einwirken (de), beeinträchtigen (de)

Hungarian: befolyásol (hu) Polish: wpływać (pl)

to collide or strike

Finnish: törmätä (fi), iskeytyä (fi) German: einschlagen (de), zusammenstossen (de), kollidieren (de)

Hungarian: ütközik (hu) Polish: uderzać (pl), zderzać (pl)

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French

Etymology

From Latin, see above.

Noun

impact m. (plural impacts)

1. (literally or figuratively) impact