Etymologically
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efficiency

Etymology and origin of the English word efficiency

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1593
Borrowed from
Latin efficientia
Ultimate origin
Latin (efficere)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, /əˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, US /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin efficientia (“efficient power, influence”),[2][3][4] from efficiēns, the present participle of efficere (“to bring about, accomplish”).[3][5] See efficient and effect.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of being an efficient cause, the power to bring something about: 1593.[6][3] Etymonline has the 1590s.[2]

Semantic evolution

Fitness or power to accomplish a purpose is from 1633.[6] In mechanics, the ratio of useful work done to energy expended is from 1855 in the OED and 1858 in Etymonline.[6][2] The economic sense is from 1906.[6] An efficiency apartment, a small flat, is from 1917, and efficiency alone for one from 1951.[2]

Timeline

  • 1593 – power to bring about.[6]
  • 1633 – fitness for a purpose.[6]
  • 1855 – in mechanics.[6]
  • 1906 – in economics.[6]
  • 1951 – an efficiency apartment.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of doing something well without wasting time, money or energy.
  2. The ratio of the useful work done by a machine to the energy put into it.
  3. (US) A small apartment with limited facilities.

Word family

  • nonefficiency
  • superefficiency

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Efficiency.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/efficiency. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·