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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.

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 for deficiency

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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 for deficiency

flaw, failing, failure, weakness, lack, defect, dearth, glitch, insufficiency, shortcoming, scarcity, shortage, frailty, fault, loss, privation, default, demerit, bug, paucity

Examples from the Web for deficiency

Contemporary Examples of deficiency

Historical Examples of deficiency

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
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).

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.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.