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deficiency

[dih-fish-uhn-see]
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noun, plural de·fi·cien·cies.
  1. the state of being deficient; lack; incompleteness; insufficiency.
  2. the amount lacked; a deficit.
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Origin of deficiency

1625–35; < Late Latin dēficientia, Latin dēficient- (stem of dēficiēns). See deficient, -ency
Related formsnon·de·fi·cien·cy, noun, plural non·de·fi·cien·cies.pre·de·fi·cien·cy, noun, plural pre·de·fi·cien·cies.

Synonyms

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1. shortage, inadequacy, paucity, scarcity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

flawfailingfailureweaknesslackdefectdearthglitchinsufficiencyshortcomingscarcityshortagefrailtyfaultlossprivationdefaultdemeritbugpaucity

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British Dictionary definitions for deficiency

deficiency

noun plural -cies
  1. the state or quality of being deficient
  2. a lack or insufficiency; shortage
  3. another word for deficit
  4. biology the absence of a gene or a region of a chromosome normally present
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deficiency

n.

1630s, from deficience (mid-15c.) + -cy; or from Late Latin deficientia, from deficientem (see deficient).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
deficiency in Medicine

deficiency

(dĭ-fĭsh′ən-sē)
n.
  1. A lack or shortage of something essential to health; an insufficiency.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.