Meanings
plural effacements
- countableuncountableThe 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 - countableuncountableWithdrawal 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 - countableuncountablemedicineA shortening, or thinning, of the cervix before or during early labour.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounwithdrawing into the background; making yourself inconspicuous
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchesfacier
- Frencheffacer
- Frencheffacement
- Englisheffacement
Borrowed from French effacement.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French effacement
- effacementwithdraw in order to make oneself inconspicuous
Cite this entry
effacement. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effacement
“effacement.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effacement. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “effacement,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effacement.
Source: effacement on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.