inefficiency

Etymology

It is formed from English in- + efficiency,^[2][3][4][5] with the negative prefix in-, "not".^[2] The OED instead derives it from the adjective inefficient with the suffix -ency, comparing efficiency,^[6][7] although it dates the noun (1749) a year before the adjective (1750); Etymonline dates inefficient to 1748.^[6][2] The base noun is from Latin efficientia (“efficient power, influence”).^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of efficiency, inability or failure to achieve something: 1749, in a letter of Lord Chesterfield dated 20 July.^[6][2][4] Dictionary.com dates it to 1740–50.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the earliest sense as "lack of efficiency, incompetency".^[2] Later the word could also be counted, for a particular inefficient act, design or procedure.^[8][9][3]

Timeline

• 1749 – lack of efficiency; failure to accomplish something.^[6][2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being inefficient; failure to use time, money or energy well: The report blamed the delays on the inefficiency of the old filing system.^[4][8][6]
2. An inefficient act, design or procedure: The audit uncovered several costly inefficiencies.^[8][9][3]

Related words

• efficiency
• inefficient
• efficient
• effect

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster