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de·fi·cien·cy
 deficiency
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- pronunciation:
- dih
fI
sh
 n
si
- features:
- Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| inflections: |
deficiencies |
| definition: |
the condition or quality of not having something that is needed or required.
A vitamin deficiency has made her ill.- similar words:
- failure, fault, lack, need, shortage, want
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| related words: |
disadvantage, vice |
The word deficiency
contains the following part:
-ance, -ence, -ency, -ancy
Latin
noun-forming suffix
that means state, quality, or act of
  More about this word part:
The suffix group -ance
, -ence
, -ency
, -ancy
attaches to verbs and Latin verb stems to create nouns. The suffix -ance
is usually attached to whole English words, whereas -ence
is usually attached to roots: compare eloquence and acceptance
. For most nouns ending in -ance
, -ence
, -ency
, -ancy
, there is a correponsponding adjective form ending in -ant, -ent.
Example words:
absence, acceptance, admittance, agency, arrogance, attendance, audience, buoyancy, conference, confidence, consequence, consistency, currency, deficiency, difference, disappearance, disturbance, emergency, frequency, importance, independence, occurrence, preference, presidency, residence, science, tendency
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