de·fi·cien·cy

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

Origin:
1625–35; < Late Latin dēficientia, Latin dēficient- (stem of dēficiēns). See deficient, -ency

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


1. shortage, inadequacy, paucity, scarcity.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To deficiency
00:10
Deficiency is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
deficiency (dɪˈfɪʃənsɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -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 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

deficiency
1630s, from deficience (c.1600), from L.L. deficientia, from deficientem (see deficient).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

deficiency de·fi·cien·cy (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.
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Example sentences
It's an utter falsehood that there is a gender-specific deficiency in
  engineering, computer science in specific.
West's relative deficiency in bike manufacture is less than in wheat farming.
He was strongly urged to enter the army as a chaplain, there being a great
  deficiency of this kind among the troops.
But this is a deficiency of contemporary privacy law: only information that is
  walled off is protected.
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