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effete
#121781
01/31/04 02:22 AM
01/31/04 02:22 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh
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A word I haven't seen for quite a while. O.Henry puts it into the mouth of a cowboy in New York for the first time,
when he meets a former cowboy buddy, who has been living
in New York for seven years, and has become citified.
Not a word I would expect an ex-Rough Rider to know.
I had forgotten the etymology, so I looked it up:
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \Ef*fete"\, a. [L. effetus that has brought forth,
exhausted; ex + fetus that has brought forth. See {Fetus}.]
No longer capable of producing young, as an animal, or fruit,
as the earth; hence, worn out with age; exhausted of energy;
incapable of efficient action; no longer productive; barren;
sterile.
Effete results from virile efforts. --Mrs.
Browning
If they find the old governments effete, worn out, . .
. they may seek new ones. --Burke.
Would you say the quote from Mrs. Browning was a double
entendre?
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Re: effete
#121782
10/17/05 10:29 PM
10/17/05 10:29 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
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Buffalo Shrdlu
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milum used this in the travel thread, and it struck me that I really didn't know the proper definition. I have always colored this word with an association with effeminate, but I see that that's not the case. or is it? anyone else?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Re: effete
#121783
10/17/05 10:47 PM
10/17/05 10:47 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,538
this too shall pass
tsuwm
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it's come to have more senses than given in that 1913 entry; but still, it's related to feminine (but not to be confused with effeminate).
Etymology: Latin effetus, from ex- + fetus pregnant, breeding, fruitful -- more at FEMININE
1 : exhausted of fertility : no longer able to produce young or fruit : UNFRUITFUL <eroded effete earth>
2 : marked by lack or deprivation of some inherent characteristic : ENERVATED: a of a substance : having lost its unique quality (as flavor) b : exhausted of physical energy : worn out : SPENT <effete, weary, burned-out revolutionists -- H.F.Mooney> c : having lost character, courage, strength, stamina, or vitality <effete literary critics and dogmatic professors -- J.T.Farrell> : DEGENERATE <a soft, effete, and decadent race -- R.P.Parsons> d : totally devoid of an original positive drive or purposiveness <vaguely educated for minor diplomatic or other governmental posts in an effete struggle to maintain position -- Janet Flanner> e : soft or decadent as a result of overrefinement of living conditions or laxity of mental or moral discipline <the effete householder who wants things done for him -- New Yorker> <the effete gentility that lay like a blight on the critical writing of the nineties -- C.I.Glicksberg> f : OUT-OF-DATE, OUTMODED <an old but by no means effete statute -- Edward Jenks>
-Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
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Re: effete
#121784
10/17/05 11:03 PM
10/17/05 11:03 PM
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Buffalo Shrdlu
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thanks, t. that's a lot more than I found at etymyonline, or Encarta. but I guess I do need to change my thoughts around it.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Re: effete
#121786
10/18/05 12:28 PM
10/18/05 12:28 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
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Buffalo Shrdlu
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> negative female qualities
that's exactly the way that I was thinking about it, Bel. yet, there's nothing in the def you ref'd that says "female"...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Re: effete
#121789
10/18/05 05:43 PM
10/18/05 05:43 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,538
this too shall pass
tsuwm
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OED has some relevant commentary:
3. fig. Of persons in an intellectual sense, of systems, etc.: That has exhausted its vigour and energy; incapable of efficient action. Also, of persons: weak, ineffectual; degenerate. More recently, effeminate.
1981 Economist 6 June 18 Cool, practical and macho in the open air, indoors the uniform tends to trip the wearer up, needs gathering up like a skirt, and looks a trifle effete.
[emPHAsis added]
(I apologize for not looking here sooner.)
edit: so, what we seem to be seeing is that although the drift had been away from feminine, we are coming back to a (typically?) lazy, fin de siecle conflation/confusion of effete and effeminate.
Last edited by tsuwm; 10/18/05 05:53 PM.
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