# competency
## English
### Etymology

From French compétence.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈkɒm.pə.tən.si/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈkɑm.pə.tən.si/

### Noun

competency (countable and uncountable, plural competencies)
* (obsolete) A sufficient supply (of).
** 1612, John Smith, Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia, Kupperman, published 1988, page 178: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 […]
** 1892, Ambrose Bierce, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians - A Holy Terror:[…] it would appear that before taking this precaution Mr. Bree must have had the thrift to remove a modest competency of the gold […]
* (obsolete) A sustainable income.
** c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.
** 1604 (first performance), George Chapman, Al Fooles: A Comedy, […], London: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorpe, published 1605, →OCLC, Act I:And that knights competency you haue gotten / VVith care and labour: he vvith luſt and idleneſſe / VVill bring into the ſtypend of a begger; […]
** 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter CXVI, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it. He knew that the lack made a man petty, mean, grasping; it distorted his character and caused him to view the world from a vulgar angle; when you had to consider every penny, money became of grotesque importance: you needed a competency to rate it at its proper value.
* The ability to perform some task; competence.
** 1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in, London: [Rivington]:The loan demonstrates, in regard to instrumental resources, the competency of this kingdom to the assertion of the common cause.
** 1961, National Council for Elementary Science (U.S.), Science Education:What professional competencies do science teachers need?
** 2004, Bill Clinton, My Life:By the year 2000, American students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, history, and geography....
** 2021 May 19, Richard Clinnick, “Fleet News: LNER to return Class 91s/Mk 4s to East Coast duties”, in Rail, number 931, page 26:The decision was then made to return '91s' and Mk 4s. These are being retained on the Yorkshire routes to keep driver competency in one area, to help with operations.
* (law) Meeting specified qualifications to perform.
* (linguistics) Implicit knowledge of a language’s structure.

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:skill

#### Derived terms

* core competency
* Gillick competency
* immunocompetency
* multicompetency
* noncompetency

#### Translations

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