competence

See also: compétence

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French compétence, from Late Latin competentia.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈkɒmpətəns/

Noun

competence (countable and uncountable, plural competences)

  1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
    • 2005, Lies Sercu and Ewa Bandura, Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence: An International Investigation:
      Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence.
  2. (countable) The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task.
  3. (linguistics) The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language, as opposed to its actual use in concrete situations (performance), cf. w:linguistic competence.
  4. (dated) A sustainable income.
    • Alexander Pope
      Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, / Lie in three words — health, peace, and competence.
    • 1811, Jane Austen, chapter 17, in Sense and Sensibility:
      “money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. Beyond a competence, it can afford no real satisfaction, as far as mere self is concerned.”
  5. (countable) In law, the legal authority to deal with a matter.
    That question is out with the competence of this court and must be taken to a higher court.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

References
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