effector

American  

[ih-fek-ter] / ɪˈfɛk tər /

noun

1. Also effecter a person or thing that effects.

2. Physiology. an organ or cell that carries out a response to a nerve impulse.

3. Biochemistry. a substance, as a hormone, that increases or decreases the activity of an enzyme.

4. end effector.

   The device has three arms with effectors that can grip and pick up objects.

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effector British  

/ ɪˈfɛktə /

noun

1. physiol a nerve ending that terminates in a muscle or gland and provides neural stimulation causing contraction or secretion

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Etymology

Origin of effector

1595–1605; < Latin, equivalent to effec-, variant stem of efficere ( effect ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

To explore what happens after these proteins enter human cells, the researchers mapped more than a thousand interactions between bacterial effector proteins and human proteins.

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2026

"The presence/absence of large genomic regions across these lineages showed that horizontal transfers of effector genes, namely genes that are important in establishing successful infection, contributed to establishing host specificity."

From Science Daily • Dec. 5, 2024

Professor Simona Stäger points out that CD4 T cells normally differentiate into effector cells from "naive" CD4 T cells.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

"If we can figure out how to direct this new lymphocyte population to differentiate into a protective effector cell, it could help the host get rid of the Leishmania parasite."

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

Cicero says: "Stilus optimus et praestantissimus dicendi effector ac magister."

From Autobiography of Seventy Years, Vol. 1-2 by Hoar, George Frisbie