Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Competence |
CompetenceNoun1. The quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "competence" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1598. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Labor | Sufficient ability or fitness for ones needs. Possessing the necessary abilities to be qualified to achieve a certain goal or complete a project. Source: European Union. (references) |
Law | The legal power, right, or authority to hear and determine a cause considered either in general or with reference to a particular matter. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mining | The ability of a current of water or wind to transport detritus, in terms of particle size rather than amount, measured as the diameter of the largest particle transported. It depends on velocity: a small, but swift stream, e.g., may have greater competence than a larger but slower-movingstream. Adj: competent. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: CompetenceSynonym: competency (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: incompetence (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Skill | Noun: skill, skillfulness, address; dexterity, dexterousness; adroitness, expertness; Adjective: proficiency, competence, technical competence, craft, callidity, facility, knack, trick, sleight; mastery, mastership, excellence, panurgy; ambidexterity, ambidextrousness; sleight of hand; (deception). |
Sufficiency | Noun: sufficiency, adequacy, enough, withal, satisfaction, competence; no less; quantum sufficit, Q.S. |
Wealth | Noun: wealth, riches, fortune, handsome fortune, opulence, affluence; good circumstances, easy circumstances; independence; competence; (sufficiency); solvency. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Competence |
| English words defined with "competence": diplomate ♦ foray ♦ inadequacy, insufficiency ♦ Poverty grass, proficiency, psycholinguistics. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "competence": ALOC ♦ Bread ♦ committee on examination of credentials, Competency-Based Education, COUNSELOR, CAMP, Credentialing, cyberpunk ♦ Fetal Organ Maturity, Fish Market ♦ G1 Phase ♦ Histocompatibility Antigens Class II ♦ INSPECTOR, HEALTH CARE FACILITIES ♦ MORTICIAN INVESTIGATOR ♦ National Practitioner Data Bank ♦ OPERATIONS-RESEARCH ANALYST ♦ qualified worker ♦ RADIATION-PROTECTION SPECIALIST ♦ skilled artisan, skilled labour, skilled labourer, SUPERVISOR, CONTRACT-SHELTERED WORKSHOP ♦ TEACHER, ADULT EDUCATION, Trout, true hacker, true-hacker. (references) |
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | All other questions as to competence, procedure or administration of justice shall be determined by a special Convention between France and Germany. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Restoration of airway competence is the objective in the treatment of severe sleep apnea. (references) | |
Strict guidelines for training in laparoscopic surgery, determination of competence, and monitoring of quality should be developed and implemented promptly. (references) | ||
Consequently, it is imperative that detailed guidelines be established for surgeon training, determination of competence, certification, and continuous monitoring of quality. (references) | ||
Business | NATAM has actually established a wholly owned subsidiary to export its competence overseas. (references) | |
This meaning that at this point they don't consider IP telephony companies a real competence problem. (references) | ||
Distribution practices and industrial competence play a fundamental and very delicate role in the safety and security sector. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Lebanon | The Accord called for the ultimate abolition of political sectarianism in favor of "expertise and competence;" however, little substantive progress has been made in this regard. (references) |
Yugoslavia | The Government cooperates with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations assisting refugees; however, there were bureaucratic problems, including lack of competence, poor procedures, and the need to engage extremely senior officials to resolve relatively routine issues. (references) | |
Economic History | Botswana | Ad hoc efforts have been undertaken to promote greater competence in the civil service. (references) |
Human Rights | Haiti | Professional competence sometimes is lacking as well; some judges are illiterate. (references) |
Georgia | In addition the licensing of forensic medical examiners does not ensure competence. (references) | |
Cote d'Ivoire | Belgian law extends universal competence to Belgian courts in matters of crimes against humanity. (references) | |
Minorities | Estonia | The language office liberally grants extensions to persons who can explain their failure to meet the requisite competence level. (references) |
Hungary | Minority self-government has been criticized mainly on two grounds; first, several minority representatives have objected to the fact that members of the majority can vote for minority candidates and thus influence minority politics; second, critics call for an increase in the competence of the minority self-governments and considerably more financial resources for them. (references) | |
Political Economy | HUNGARY | The number of civil actions brought before the Budapest Metropolitan Court (the exclusive court of competence for these cases) is up dramatically since 1997, but the enforcement of sanctions against the sale of pirated goods is still lacking. (references) |
Trade | Ukraine | This examination in the export control domain is carried out by the Derzhexportkontrol, other central executive authorities, and government bodies acting within their respective competence, also by legal entities and experts acting under appropriate authority (as submitted and justified or substantiated by the Derzhexportkontrol, or as resolved by the Government Export Control Policy Commission). (references) |
Worker Rights | Guinea | Union officials are selected on the basis of nepotism and patronage, rather than through a hierarchy of competence; these individuals are not sensitized to the rights of workers, and often view unions as an enemy of the Government. (references) |
Korea | Ideological purity is as important as professional competence in deciding who receives a particular job, and foreign companies that have established joint ventures report that all their employees must be hired from lists submitted by the KWP. Factory and farm workers are organized into councils, which do have an impact on management decisions. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | As the stipulations in this treaty involve matters with the competence of both Houses only, it will be laid before Congress as soon as the Senate shall have advised its ratification. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | In our government, it is a myth that we must choose between compassion and competence. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Competence" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.45% of the time. "Competence" is used about 1,456 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.45% | 1,448 | 5,577 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.48% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Noun (common) | 0.07% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,456 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "competence": area of competence ♦ Clinical Competence ♦ competence hearing ♦ existential competence ♦ legal competence ♦ linguistic competence ♦ non competence ♦ Professional Competence ♦ vocational competence certificate ♦ with competence. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "competence": competence-based, competence-led, competence-performance. | |
Ending with "competence": ego-competence, non-competence. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "competence"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | kompetencë (ability, adequacy, authority, business, capacity, competency, power, province, purview, reference), kamuri (competency), kamje (affluence, competency, wealth), fuqi ligjore (competency, validity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كفاءة (ability, adequacy, aptitude, capability, capacity, efficiency, fitness, qualification, qualifications), تمكن (ability, can, mastery), جدارة (aptitude, desert, efficiency, eligibility, fitness, merit, qualification, suitability, worth, worthiness), إختصاص (purview, specialization), أهلية (aptitude, aptly, desert, domestication, legitimacy, neatness, qualification, qualifications). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | способност (ability, aptness, bump, capability, capacity, competency, efficiency, faculty, fitness, flair, notion, power, quality, sufficiency, turn), компетенция (capacity, cognizance, competency, province, purview, reference, scope), компетентност (ability, cognizance, competency, jurisdiction, province, purview), добро материално положение (competency), дарба (ability, appanage, aptitude, competency, dowry, endowment, faculty, flair, genius, gift). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 能力 (Abilities, Ability, Capabilities, Capability, Competency), 才干 (ability). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | pravomoc (authority, remit), kompetentnost, kompetence (authority, jurisdiction, remit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | stille penge til rådighed, kompetence (competency, jurisdiction, proficiency), jurisdiktion (jurisdiction), forudbetaling (buyer's credit, payment in advance, prepayment). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | competentie (ability), rechtsbevoegdheid (jurisdiction), bevoegdheid (ability, authorization, qualification, right). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | کفایت (Adequacy, Autarchy, Efficiency, Plenty, Sufficiency), سررشته (Scent), صلاحیت (Ability, Capability, Capacity, Qualification), شایستگی (Ability, Adequacy, Aptitude, Aptness, Decency, Desert, Eligibility, Merit, Pertinence, Sufficiency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | toimivalta (authority), kompetenssi (competency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | compétence (competition). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | zuständigkeit (jurisdiction, responsibility), kompetenz (authority, capability, jurisdiction, range), fähigkeit (ability, aptitude, capability, efficiency, faculty, feature, literacy, property, skill, skillfulness), Amtsbefugnisse (authorities). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αρμοδιότητα (activity, appropriateness, aptitude, cognizance, domain, eligibility, fitness, jurisdiction, propriety, province, relevance, relevancy, suitability). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מומחיות (expertise, expertness, mastery, skill, speciality, specialization, specialty), יכולת (ability, capability, capacity, faculty, possibility, power), כשירות (fitness, qualification, qualifications, worthiness), כשרון (ability, aptitude, capability, endowment, facility, flair, genius, gift, knack, talent), סמכות משפטית (judicature, jurisdiction), סמכות (ability, authority, authorization, power, sanction, warrant). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | alkalmasság (adequacy, appropriateness, aptitude, aptness, competency, efficiency, eligibility, fitness, fittingness, neatness, seemliness, sufficiency, suitability), szakértelem (competency, cunning, expertise, know how, know-how, proficiency, skill, skills), illetékesség (cognizance, competency, jurisdiction, right), hatáskör (ambit, authority, cognizance, competency, extent, function, jurisdiction, limit of power, orbit, pale, province, purview, reach, scope, scope of authority, sphere of action). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | kewenangan (authority), kemampuan (ability, capability, faculty), keahlian (adeptness, craft, expertise, know how, proficiency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | competenza (competency, expertise, expertness, proficiency, province). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 適任 , 言語能力 , 応"能 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | おうとうのう, '""のうりょく, てきに". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 성 (Aptitude, Competency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ompetencecay competência (ability, address, adeptness, aptness, authority, capacity, cognizance, competency, jurisdiction, proficiency, province, qualification, scope), capacidade (ability, aptitude, aptness, art, attainment, bulk, capacity, competency, content, contents, coryphaeus, craft, cunning, efficiency, energy, faculty, fitness, genius, head, know-how, load, measure, part, power, proficiency, reach, room, size, tankage). (various references) competenţã (ability, authority, capacity, cognizance, efficiency, expertness, fitness, jurisdiction, province, purview, reference, scope), clarificare (clarification, clearing, elucidation), capacitate (ability, capability, capaciousness, capacity, content, efficiency, fitness, gift, mastermind, measure, output, power, talent, tankage, volume), viaţã îndestulatã, resort (sphere), pricepere (ability, capability, cleverness, fitness, gumption, ingenuousness, knack, know how, management, qualification, savvy, sconce, skill, understanding), destoinicie (ability), atribuţie (attribution, reference, task), abilitate (ability, address, adroitness, aptness, art, cleverness, craft, cunning, deftness, finesse, genius, knack, resourcefulness, skill, talent), îndestulare (abundance, fill, satiety). (various references) компетенция (attribution, cognizance, competency, scope, terms of reference). (various references) spremnost (competency, forwardness, preparedness, readiness, willingness), sposobnost (ability, acumen, aptitude, aptness, capability, capacity, competency, facility, faculty, fitness, talent, touch), nadležnost (competency, jurisdiction), delokrug (competency, orb, purview, sphere). (various references) competencia (adeptness, capability, capacity, competency, competition, efficiency, opposition, proficiency, province, purview, rivalry, scope). (various references) kompetens (capacity, competency, qualification). (various references) yetki (authority, authorization, command, competency, faculty, fiat, power, sword, vis, warrant, warranty), yeterlik (ability, adequacy, capacity, competency, efficiency, proficiency, qualification, sufficiency), yetenek (ability, accomplishment, accomplishments, aptitude, aptness, artistry, bent, caliber, calibre, capability, capacity, competency, disposition, dower, dowry, efficiency, facility, faculty, fitness, flair, gift, hand, instinct, parts, power, prerogative, quality, skill, talent, vocation), geçinip gidecek kadar gelir (competency, subsistence), ehliyet (competency, driver's licence, driver's license, driving licence, licence, proficiency, qualification, ticket). (various references) уміння (art, cleverness, competency, facility, know how, proficiency), компетентність (adequacy, competency), вправність (address, adroitness, artfulness, competency, craft, deftness, efficiency, neatness, sharpness, subtlety), правомочність (competency, warrant), достаток (abundance, affluence, competency, exuberance, exuberancy, fertileness, fertility, fullness, fulness, galore, glut, opulence, plenitude, plenty, prodigality, profusion, store, sufficiency, wealth). (various references) năng lực (ability, bump, calibre, depth, quality). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "competence": competences. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "competence": immunocompetence, incompetence, omnicompetence. (additional references) | |
Words containing "competence": immunocompetences, incompetences, omnicompetences. (additional references) | |
| |
"Competence" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Cimetine, compedence, competance, Compiegne. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "competence" (pronounced kÄ"mputuns) |
| 9 | k Ä" m p u t u n s | incompetence. |
| 7 | -m p u t u n s | impotence. |
| 6 | -p u t u n s | omnipotence. |
| 5 | -u t u n s | capacitance, inheritance. |
| 4 | -t u n s | acceptance, acquaintance, admittance, assistance, coexistence, consistence, distance, existence, importance, inadvertence, inductance, insistence, instance, persistence, pittance, reluctance, remittance, repentance, resistance, sentence, subsistence, substance. |
| 3 | -u n s | abeyance, abhorrence, absence, abstinence, abundance, accordance, acquiescence, adherence, admirations, adolescence, affluence, allegiance, alliance, allowance, ambiance, ambience, ambivalence, ambulance, annoyance, appearance, appliance, arrogance, ascendance, assurance, attendance, audience, avoidance, balance, belligerence, beneficence, benevolence, bioscience, brilliance, cadence, chrominance, circumference, clairvoyance, Clarence, clearance, cognizance, coherence, coincidence, coinsurance, comeuppance, compliance, concurrence, condolence, conference, confidence, confluence, conformance, congruence, connivance, conscience, consequence, continuance, contrivance, convalescence, convenience, convergence, conveyance, correspondence, countenance, counterbalance, counterintelligence, credence, dalliance, decadence, Defeasance, deference, defiance, deliverance, dependence, deterrence, deviance, difference, diligence, disallowance, disappearance, discontinuance, disobedience, dissidence, dissonance, disturbance, divergence, dominance, ebullience, elegance, eloquence, emergence, eminence, endurance, entrance, equivalence, essence, evanescence, evidence, excellence, expedience, experience, extravagance, exuberance, flamboyance, Florence, forbearance, fragrance, furtherance, governance, grievance, guidance, hindrance, ignorance, imbalance, immanence, imminence, impatience, impedance, imprudence, incidence, incoherence, incontinence, inconvenience, independence, indifference, indulgence, inexperience, inference, influence, innocence, insignificance, insolence, insurance, intelligence, interdependence, interference, intolerance, intransigence, invariance, irrelevance, irreverence, issuance, jurisprudence, licence, license, luminance, luminescence, maintenance, malfeasance, negligence, neuroscience, noncompliance, noninterference, nonviolence, nuisance, obedience, observance, obsolescence, occurrence, omnipresence, opulence, ordinance, Ordnance, overabundance, overconfidence, overdependence, overreliance, parlance, patience, penance, performance, permanence, persecutions, perseverance, pestilence, petulance, phosphorescence, precedence, predominance, preeminence, preference, preponderance, prescience, presence, prevalence, prominence, protuberance, provenance, Providence, province, prudence, pseudoscience, quintessence, radiance, reappearance, reassurance, recalcitrance, recognizance, reconnaissance, recurrence, reemergence, reference, reinspections, reinsurance, relevance, reliance, remembrance, reminiscence, resemblance, residence, resilience, resonance, resurgence, reticence, reverence, riddance, science, semblance, senescence, sequence, severance, significance, silence, submergence, subservience, subsidence, surveillance, sustenance, teleconference, temperance, tolerance, transcendence, transference, transience, turbulence, unbalance, utterance, Valence, variance, vehemence, vengeance, videoconference, vigilance, violence, virulence. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-c-e-e-e-m-n-o-p-t" | |
-3 letters: compete, concept, potence. | |
-4 letters: cement, cenote, coempt, metope, pecten, poteen, potmen, toneme. | |
-5 letters: cento, comet, compt, comte, conte, copen, emcee, emote, monte, netop, pence, ponce, tempo, tepee, topee. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-c-e-e-e-m-n-o-p-t" | |
+1 letter: competences. | |
+2 letters: competencies, incompetence. | |
+3 letters: incompetences. | |
+4 letters: chemoreception, incompetencies, omnicompetence. | |
+5 letters: chemoreceptions, mechanoreceptor, omnicompetences. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Historic 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Quotations: Speeches 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.