13 August 2013

effete

[ih-feet]

adjective

1. lacking in wholesome vigor; degenerate; decadent: an effete, overrefined society.
2. exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out: an effete political force.
3. unable to produce; sterile.

Origin:
1615–25; < Latin effēta exhausted from bearing, equivalent to ef- ef- + fēta having brought forth, feminine past participle of lost v.; see fetus

Related forms
ef·fete·ly, adverb
ef·fete·ness, noun
non·ef·fete, adjective
non·ef·fete·ly, adverb
non·ef·fete·ness, noun

Today’s aphorism

The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.

– H. G. Wells

On this day

13 August 1784 – British Parliament enacts ‘Pitt’s India Act’, which brought the East India company under the control of the British government.

13 August 1899 – birthday of Alfred Hitchcock, English movie director and producer.

13 August 1926 – birthday of Fidel Castro, former Cuban President.

13 August 1946 – death of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Born 21 September 1866.

13 August 1961 – construction of the Berlin Wall commences.