Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of effacing, or the state of being effaced.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act if effacing; also, the result of the act.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun withdrawal in order to make oneself inconspicuous
  • noun medicine A shortening, or thinning, of the cervix before or during early labour

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun withdrawing into the background; making yourself inconspicuous
  • noun shortening of the uterine cervix and thinning of its walls as it is dilated during labor

Etymologies

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  • v trans, erase (a mark) from a surface: with time, the words are effaced by the frost and the rain

    Figurative his anger was effaced when he stepped into the open air.

    special Usage (efface oneself) Figurative make oneself appear insignificant or inconspicuous.

    Derivatives ef-face-ment n.

    Origin late 15th cent. (in the sense 'pardon or be absolved from (an offence)'): from French effacer, from e- (from Latin ex- 'away from') + face 'face'.

    April 26, 2020

  • Between the rubble and his effacement from history, no looters got to it.

    Widdershins (whyborne & Griffin) by Jordan L Hawk

    April 26, 2020