效应 xiàoyìng effect (scientific phenomenon)
How to remember 效应: 效 result + 应 should = effect (scientific phenomenon).
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How it is used
- An 'effect' as a named phenomenon - 温室效应 (wēnshì xiàoyìng) greenhouse effect, 蝴蝶效应 (húdié xiàoyìng) butterfly effect, 明星效应 (míngxīng xiàoyìng) celebrity effect.
- Used for scientific or social effects that have a name/mechanism; almost always in the pattern X效应.
- Contrast 效果 (xiàoguǒ), the concrete result of an action; 效应 is a systematic knock-on phenomenon.