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Effectivity vs Efficiency | ||
Tags: Meaning of words | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Franz_but Newbie Czech Republic Joined 3619 days ago 2 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English | Message 1 of 17 02 January 2015 at 9:14am | IP Logged | |||||
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I always thought that effectivity is hardly used nowadays and efficiency is more used as
they (as I believe) mean the same. Could you help me with the usage and possible differences? Thanks a lot! 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5263 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 17 02 January 2015 at 12:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
Effectivity is a word that I have never heard of until today and I am a native English-speaker. Here's what the Urban Dictionary says about it:
Hmmmm, "an idiotic modern word", that leaves us with effectiveness vs efficiency.
Here's my understanding: To me, being efficient is doing something in the best way I possibly can while expending my energy to do so with the least amount of wasted energy possible. Being effective is having what I am doing (hopefully in an efficient manner) actually solve the problem. I would forget about "effectivity" and not use it. Edited by iguanamon on 02 January 2015 at 12:22pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| blauwevos Newbie France Joined 3696 days ago 7 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 3 of 17 02 January 2015 at 12:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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If a solution is effective, it gets the job done.
If a solution is efficient, it gets the job done within a reasonable time frame and with an acceptable benefit-cost ratio. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5227 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 4 of 17 02 January 2015 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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"Effectivity" doesn't seem to be a word (or a widely accepted one, outside circles where careless use of language is way too common, f.e. the gaming scene) -- "effectiveness" is what you probably want to say instead.
When comparing effectiveness vs. efficiency, though, the former refers to goal achievement, while the latter refers to the cost involved: Actions are labelled "effective" if you reach a set goal (they have effect) and they are "ineffective" if you don't, and "effectiveness" measures various degrees of achievement that may lay in between. Now, goals might be equally achieved by different actions or methods at the expense of different amounts of efforts or other kinds of costs. Then they are equally effective (same degree of effectiveness) but the action or method that involves the lesser cost shows a greater degree of efficiency. Hope this helps. One last consideration, though -- rather often, these and other pairs of words with closely knit meanings ("exactitude" and "accuracy" come to mind) are mixed up even (especially?) by native speakers. This indicates there's always some degree of impressionism involved in interpretation, besides the fact that difference in meaning of such word pairs may vary across languages, even when direct translations exist and are acceptable. Edit: others beat me to it while I was writing this. Oh well... Edited by mrwarper on 02 January 2015 at 12:39pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5321 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 5 of 17 02 January 2015 at 1:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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@Franz_but: If you've you heard "effectivity" used by German speakers, it might a false friend, because in Germany, Effektivität = effectiveness, is commonly used, and since many other German internationalisms ending in "-tät" have English counterparts ending in "-ty," for example, Aktivität = activity, many Germans erroneously assume hat all German internationalisms ending in "-tät" have a "-ty" equivalent.
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| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 6 of 17 02 January 2015 at 5:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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While effectivity is, indeed, a valid English word, most people would use effectiveness. Mrwarper has provided a very good explanation of the current differences of meaning for effectiveness and efficiency. From the English perspective, both of these words have their origins in Old French and Latin. However, the English use of efficiency took on its more modern meaning with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The record shows that was late 19th century British Engineers and Engineering Technicians who contributed the most to the distinctions, which included the measurements thereof. Interestingly, Le Dictionnaire historique de la langue Française, published by LeRobert, recognizes the current meaning of éfficience as a borrowing in the late 19th century from the English meaning of efficiency. In my experience, unless they have been exposed to these concepts in their studies of the applied sciences, in engineering, or in accounting, many English and French speakers routinely confound these two words.
I would add that a particular operation can be quite efficient in the use of resources, but it might not necessarily be effective in reaching the stated goal. Thus, the statement "If a solution is efficient, it gets the job done within a reasonable time frame and with an acceptable benefit-cost ratio" does not represent the concept of efficiency. Edited by Speakeasy on 02 January 2015 at 8:23pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gomorritis Tetraglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 4279 days ago 91 posts - 157 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English, Catalan, French Studies: Greek, German, Dutch | Message 7 of 17 02 January 2015 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Maybe it's because I am an engineer that I think the word "efficiency" is often used wrongly. In essence it is always the comparison of two parameters, so saying that something is efficient means close to nothing if you don't define what you understand as efficiency for every particular use. It is a very used word in (deceitful) political debates.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4666 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 8 of 17 02 January 2015 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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efficiency: ratio of resources expended to useful work accomplished
effectiveness: total useful work accomplished I have never seen "effectivity" in English, nor "efficience" in French. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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