Deficient
/dɪˈfɪʃ.ənt/noun
Lacking something necessary or desired; incomplete or insufficient.
Did you know?Deficient ultimately traces to Latin *deficere*, a verb used for failing, deserting, and running short, which also gave English words like defect and deficit.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
deficiens
“failing, lacking, falling short”
Latin
Latin
deficere
“to fail, desert, diminish, run out”
Latin
Latin
de- + facere
“to undo / to do away from; literally “to make away””
Old French
Old French
deficient
“deficient, lacking”
Late Middle English
English
deficient
“lacking in some necessary quality or quantity”
Modern English
English
deficient
“insufficient or incomplete”