# competence

Pronunciation: say "KOM-puh-tuhns" US /ˈkɑm.pə.təns/, UK /ˈkɒm.pə.təns/, AUS /ˈkɔm.pə.təns/

## Noun

1. The quality or state of being able or suitable for a general role; overall capability.
   - Simple: The ability to do something well enough to be trusted with a job or role.
   - _Years of training gave her the competence to handle almost any emergency._
   - _Voters wanted leaders who could prove their competence during a crisis._
2. The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task or skill.
   - Simple: The skill needed to do one particular task or job well.
   - _Public speaking is a competence that improves with regular practice._
   - _The training program builds the core competences required for the role._
3. The legal authority to deal with a particular matter.
   - Simple: The legal power to deal with a certain matter or case.
   - _The tribunal ruled that the matter lay outside its competence._
   - _Member states transferred certain competences to the union._
4. The system of linguistic knowledge that native speakers of a language possess, distinct from its actual use in concrete situations (performance).
   - Simple: The deep knowledge of a language that native speakers have, not how they actually use it in speech.
   - _Native speakers judge odd sentences using their underlying competence, even when they cannot explain the rule._
   - _The theory separates competence from the slips and pauses of everyday speech._
5. In geology, how strongly a rock resists being deformed or made to flow.
   - Simple: How well a rock resists being bent, squeezed, or made to flow.
   - _The fold pattern reflects differences in competence between the rock layers._
   - _A bed of high competence tends to fracture rather than bend under stress._

## Noun

6. A steady income sufficient to live on comfortably. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Enough steady money to live on comfortably without working.
   - _A modest competence from his late uncle freed him from the counting-house for good._
   - _She married a man with a comfortable competence and a quiet country house._

## Origin

Borrowed from Middle French compétence, from Late Latin competentia; it is a doublet of competency.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/competence (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).