proficiency

/proʊˈfɪʃɪnsi/

/prəˈfɪʃɪnsi/

Other forms: proficiencies

If you have proficiency with something, you are pretty good at it. If you have proficiency with Spanish, you can understand and communicate well in that language.

Proficiency, pronounced "pro-FISH-en-cee," comes from the Latin word proficere, meaning "accomplish, make progress, be useful." If you have achieved proficiency in something, you have done well at gaining a skill. However, having proficiency doesn't make you an expert. Still, proficiency is something to be proud of — it means you have worked hard, and if you keep going, you probably will become an expert.

Definitions of proficiency

1. noun

   the quality of having great facility and competence
   type of:

   competence, competency

   the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually
2. noun

   skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity
   “practice greatly improves proficiency”

   synonyms: technique

   types:

   brushwork

   an artist's distinctive technique of applying paint with a brush

   musketry

   the technique of using small arms (especially in battle)

   type of:

   skillfulness

   the state of being cognitively skillful