sufficient English · revision 6004

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la sufficio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /səˈfɪʃ.ənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English sufficient, [[bor|fro|soficient|t=satisfactory]] or directly [[bor|la|sufficiēns|t=adequate]] (accusative sufficientem),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) the present participle of [[m|la|sufficere|t=to supply as a substitute; to suffice]] (see [[suffice]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from sub “up to” and a combining form of facere “to make, do”,^(Etymonline) from the PIE root [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|alt=*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Adequate for a purpose, enough: about 1380 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The NODE notes an early sense, legally satisfactory.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It has had special legal and technical senses since Middle English.^(Etymonline) Able to provide for a need, as in ''sufficient unto the day'', from Matthew 6:34, is from 1535 in that construction.^(OED 1989) Competent or qualified, of a person, is an older sense now rare.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002) In logic a sufficient condition is one that ensures the truth of a statement, as opposed to a necessary one.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – adequate, enough.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1535 – able to provide for.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # As much as is needed; [[enough]]: ''sufficient evidence''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Competent or qualified.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(logic)'' Of a condition, ensuring that something is true.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sufficiently]]

+ * [[oversufficient]]

+ * [[supersufficient]]

+ * [[self-sufficient]]

+ * [[sufficiency]]

+ * [[sufficient condition]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[suffice]]

+ * [[insufficient]]

+ * [[efficient]]

+ * [[fact]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}