| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| effort |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ef·fort |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   f  rt |
| NOUN: | 1. The use of physical or mental energy to do something; exertion. 2. A difficult exertion of the strength or will: It was an effort to get up. 3. A usually earnest attempt: Make an effort to arrive promptly. 4. Something done or produced through exertion; an achievement: a play that was his finest effort. 5. Physics Force applied against inertia. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French esfort, from esforcier, to force, exert, from Medieval Latin exforti re : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin fortis, strong; see bhergh-2 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | effort·ful —ADJECTIVE
effort·ful·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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