Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “proficiency” come from?

Proficiency comes from Latin proficientem, the present participle of proficere meaning to make progress, from facere to do or make, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European roots bʰuH-, dʰeh₁-, and pr̥tós.

proficiency (English): Ability, skill, competence

Definitions

  1. Ability, skill, competence

Ancestry of “proficiency”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinproficiensadvancing etc
2LatinproficioI advance, make progress, make headway; I...
3Latinfaciō—
4Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
5Latin-tōrius—
6Latin-tor-er
7Proto-Italic-tōr—
8Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
9Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “proficiency”

  • unproficiency
  • nonproficiency
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →