Dictionary entry

Sufficiency

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Suf‐fi″cien‐cy (?), n. [L. sufficientia: cf. F. suffisance. See Suffice.] 1. The quality or state of being sufficient, or adequate to the end proposed; adequacy.

His sufficiency is such that he bestows and possesses, his plenty being unexhausted. Boyle.

2. Qualification for any purpose; ability; capacity.

A substitute or most allowed sufficiency. Shak.

I am not so confident of my own sufficiency as not willingly to admit the counsel of others. Eikon Basilike.

3. Adequate substance or means; competence. “An elegant sufficiency.” Thomson.

4. Supply equal to wants; ample stock or fund.

5. Conceit; self-confidence; self-sufficiency.

Sufficiency is a compound of vanity and ignorance. Sir W. Temple.