Strong effects or influences on someone or something. Physical collisions or forceful contact between objects.
From Latin 'impactus,' past participle of 'impingere' meaning 'to push against, strike,' from 'in-' (into) + 'pangere' (to fasten, fix). The metaphorical sense of 'strong effect' developed from the literal sense of physical collision.
The word 'impact' as a verb meaning 'to affect strongly' is relatively recent - it was considered incorrect business jargon until the 1960s! Purists preferred 'affect' or 'influence,' but the metaphor of collision creating change was too powerful to resist.
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