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deficiency

[ dih-fish-uhn-see ]
/ dɪˈfɪʃ ən si /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR deficiency

noun, plural de·fi·cien·cies.

the state of being deficient; lack; incompleteness; insufficiency.
the amount lacked; a deficit.

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Also Obsolete, deficience [dih-fish-uhns] /dɪˈfɪʃ əns/ .

Origin of deficiency

First recorded in 1625–35; from Late Latin dēficientia, Latin dēficient- (stem of dēficiēns ); see origin at deficient, -ency

OTHER WORDS FROM deficiency

non·de·fi·cien·cy, noun, plural non·de·fi·cien·cies.pre·de·fi·cien·cy, noun, plural pre·de·fi·cien·cies.

Words nearby deficiency

defibrillate, defibrillation, defibrillator, defibrinate, defibrination, deficiency, deficiency account, deficiency disease, deficiency judgment, deficiency symptom, deficient
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to deficiency

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

Example sentences from the Web for deficiency

British Dictionary definitions for deficiency

deficiency
/ (dɪˈfɪʃənsɪ) /

noun plural -cies

the state or quality of being deficient
a lack or insufficiency; shortage
another word for deficit
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

Medical definitions for deficiency

deficiency
[ dĭ-fĭsh′ən-sē ]

n.

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.