insufficient

Etymology

It comes from Old French insufficient or directly borrowed from Late Latin insufficiēns (“not sufficing”),^[2][3][4][5] formed from in- (“not”) and sufficiēns (“sufficient”),^[3][6][7] the present participle of sufficiō (“to suffice”).^[5] The OED compares the later French form insuffisant;^[2] the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records insufficient from 1306, of things not adequate and of persons unworthy or of inadequate ability.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, of inadequate ability or qualification, unfit or incompetent: about 1386, in Chaucer's Summoner's Tale.^[2][5] Barnhart dates the word to 1392.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used of people: besides "incompetent", it meant from 1426 "not having enough", inadequately provided with money or goods;^[2] both personal senses died out in the 17th century.^[2][9] Of things, "lacking in what is required, inadequate in force, quality or amount", it is recorded from before 1513,^[2] and Etymonline dates this sense to the late 15th century.^[3] It is the only sense in use today.^[9][10] A noun use, an incompetent person (1654), is obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• c1386 – of a person, incompetent, unfit (obsolete by 1657).^[2]
• 1426 – not having enough money or possessions (obsolete).^[2]
• a1513 – of a thing, inadequate in force, quality or amount.^[2]
• 1654 – noun, an incompetent person (obsolete).^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not enough in amount, degree or quality for a purpose; inadequate or deficient: The charges were dropped because the evidence was insufficient.
2. (obsolete) Of a person, lacking the ability or qualifications needed; incompetent.

Word family

• insufficiently

Related words

• sufficient
• suffice
• insufficiency
• deficient

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins