Competency

//ˈkɑm.pə.tən.si// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The ability to perform some task; competence. countable, uncountable

    "The loan demonstrates, in regard to instrumental resources, the competency of this kingdom to the assertion of the common cause."

  2. 2
    the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually wordnet
  3. 3
    An individual's capacity to understand the nature and implications of their legal rights and obligations. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    Implicit knowledge of a language’s structure. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A sufficient supply of something. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "the next day they returned unsuspected, leaving their confederates to follow, and in the interim, to convay them a competencie of all things they could […]"

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  1. 6
    A sustainable income. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer."

Synonyms

All synonyms
abilityablenessabsolutismaptitudecapabilitycapacity

Example

More examples

"I'm casting aspersions on his competency as a statistician."

Etymology

From Late Latin competentia. Doublet of competence.

Related phrases

Gillick competencycore competency

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.