Adjacent Words

Sufficiency definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUFFI'CIENCY, n. The state of being adequate to the end proposed.
His sufficiency is such, that he bestows and possesses, his plenty being unexhausted.
1. Qualification for any purpose.
I am not so confident of my own sufficiency as not willingly to admit the counsel of others.
2. Competence; adequate substance or means.
An elegant sufficiency, content.
3. Supply equal to wants; ample stock or fund.
4. Ability; adequate power.
Our sufficiency is of God. 2 Corinthians 3.
5. Conceit; self-confidence. [See Self-sufficiency.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: sufficient resources to provide comfort and meet obligations; "her father questioned the young suitor's sufficiency"
2: an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose; "enough is as good as a feast"; "there is more than a sufficiency of lawyers in this country" [syn: enough, sufficiency]
3: the quality of being sufficient for the end in view; "he questioned the sufficiency of human intelligence" [syn: sufficiency, adequacy] [ant: deficiency, inadequacy, insufficiency]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -cies) Date: 15th century 1. sufficient means to meet one's needs ; competency; also a modest but adequate scale of living 2. the quality or state of being sufficient ; adequacy

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 (often foll. by of) an adequate amount or adequate resources. 2 archaic being sufficient; ability; efficiency. Etymology: LL sufficientia (as SUFFICIENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sufficiency Suf*fi"cien*cy, n. [L. sufficientia: cf. F. suffisance. See Suffice.] 1. The quality or state of being sufficient, or adequate to the end proposed; adequacy. His sufficiency is such that he bestows and possesses, his plenty being unexhausted. --Boyle. 2. Qualification for any purpose; ability; capacity. A substitute or most allowed sufficiency. --Shak. I am not so confident of my own sufficiency as not willingly to admit the counsel of others. --Eikon Basilike. 3. Adequate substance or means; competence. ``An elegant sufficiency.'' --Thomson. 4. Supply equal to wants; ample stock or fund. 5. Conceit; self-confidence; self-sufficiency. Sufficiency is a compound of vanity and ignorance. --Sir W. Temple.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Sufficiency of something is enough of that thing to achieve a purpose or to fulfil a need. (FORMAL) There's a sufficiency of drama in these lives to sustain your interest. ? insufficiency N-UNCOUNT: also a N, oft N of n see also self-sufficiency

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Adequacy. 2. Ability, qualification, capacity. 3. Competence, enough. 4. Plenty, supply, ample stock. 5. Conceit, self-confidence, self-sufficiency.

Moby Thesaurus

ability, ableness, acceptability, adequacy, adequateness, admissibility, agreeability, caliber, capability, capableness, capacity, competence, efficacy, efficiency, facility, faculty, fairishness, fitness, flair, genius, goodishness, passableness, proficiency, qualification, satisfactoriness, sufficient, susceptibility, talent, tenability, the goods, the stuff, tolerability, tolerableness, unexceptionability, unobjectionability, viability, what it takes