The English word root fect means ‘make’ or ‘do.’
If something is perfect, is is thoroughly ‘done,’ or cannot be ‘made’ any better than it already is. Someone who is effective can get things ‘done,’ and might even do things perfectly.
The verb affect and the noun effect often give students and adults alike conniption fits. Let’s clear this up here and now. When you affect someone, you have ‘done’ something to her. An effect, on the other hand, is a result of something that has been ‘done.’ Thus, you could affect someone by something that you have ‘done,’ with the resulting effect being either positive or negative.
Remember the prefects in Harry Potter, the older students put in charge of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw? A prefect is ‘made’ the head or put in charge of people. We might hope that such leaders wouldn’t have too many defects, or aspects that ‘make’ them filled with troublesome shortcomings.
When a disease infects you, it ‘makes’ its way into your body. So a disease can be infectious, but so too can enthusiasm. I hope an infection of enthusiasm rather than a disease ‘makes’ its way into you!
Ever eat a confection in a refectory? Huh? First of all, a confection is a dessert that is thoroughly ‘done’ so as to be as tasty and appealing as possible. A refectory is a large dining room at a college where hungry students are ‘made’ new again, that is, refreshed with lots of nourishing food. So, I’ll take a guess that you probably have had a confection in a refectory!
I hope that your mind now has been thoroughly infected with fect, having been ‘made’ perfectly aware of its effective power for learning English vocabulary!
- perfect: thoroughly ‘made’
- effective: able to get things ‘done’
- affect: ‘done’ towards
- effect: result ‘made’ by ‘doing’ something
- prefect: ‘made’ in charge, thus ‘made’ to rule before others
- defect: ‘done’ not quite right
- infected: ‘made’ inroads into your body
- confection: dessert thoroughly ‘done’
- refectory: place where you are ‘made’ new again