Dictionary

effacement en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Old French esfacier French effacer Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -ment Middle French -ment French -ment French effacementbor. English effacement Borrowed from French effacement.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of expunging, of wiping out; expungement.
   • Among the many very baffling inconsistencies of Shakespeare's life the outstanding mystery is surely this: that of all his prolific work […] not a line of manuscript is known to exist today. Nothing approaching this complete effacement can be paralleled in literary history […] 1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
2. (countable, uncountable) Withdrawal in order to make oneself inconspicuous; the making of oneself inconspicuous.
   • Native Americans seem to have always placed great value on silence and direct experience, and in indigenous cultures in general, silence denotes respect and self-effacement. 2007, John Zerzan, Silence, page 3:
3. (countable, uncountable) A shortening, or thinning, of the cervix before or during early labour.

Forms

Deriveds

self-effacement

Translations (1)

fr effacement (withdraw in order to make oneself inconspicuous)