Both Uses of
efface
in
David Copperfield
- It was Mrs. Steerforth, who gave me her hand more coldly than of yore, and with an augmentation of her former stateliness of manner, but still, I perceived — and I was touched by it — with an ineffaceable remembrance of my old love for her son.†
Chpt 46-48 *ineffaceable = not able to be forgotten or erasedstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in ineffaceable means not and reverses the meaning of effaceable. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- I began one, 'How can I ever hope, my dear Agnes, to efface from your remembrance the disgusting impression' — there I didn't like it, and then I tore it up.†
Chpt 25-27
Definitions:
-
(1)
(efface as in: efface the memory) remove completely from recognition or memory -- sometimes by erasing
-
(2)
(efface as in: efface herself) to make oneself inconspicuous or unimportant
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rare, specialized senses include:- ballet -- a way of standing at an angle that hides part of the body from view
- medicine -- describing the cervix as getting shorter, softer, and thinner during labor