# competency

/ˈkɑmpətɪnsi/ (US) · /kˈɒmpɪtənsi/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/competency
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. ability to do a task

noun · CEFR B2 · Academic

the ability to do something well or to the required standard.

For teachers: the quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgment, or skill for a particular duty or task.

- The job description lists several core competencies, including teamwork and communication.
- The human resources department developed a new framework to assess the technical competency of senior engineering candidates during the interview process.

Usage: Often used in the plural ('competencies') when referring to specific professional skills.

### 2. legal capacity

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical · Formal

a person's legal ability to make their own decisions or understand a trial.

For teachers: the legal capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings or to be held accountable for their actions.

- The judge had to decide on the defendant's mental competency to stand trial.
- Legal experts questioned the witness's competency, arguing that his cognitive decline prevented him from providing reliable testimony.

Usage: Frequently appears in the phrase 'competency to stand trial'.

### 3. linguistic knowledge

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · Academic

the natural, internal knowledge a person has of their own language.

For teachers: the abstract, internalised knowledge of a language's grammar and rules, distinguished from 'performance'.

- Even if you make a mistake while speaking, your underlying linguistic competency remains the same.
- Chomsky's distinction between competency and performance suggests that a speaker's actual output may not always reflect their total grammatical knowledge.

Teaching tip: In linguistics, this is a technical term contrasted with 'performance' (how a person actually speaks).

### 4. sufficient income

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

having enough money or resources to live comfortably.

For teachers: a sufficient supply of means or a sustainable income to provide for one's needs.

- He retired to the countryside once he had secured a modest competency.
- In nineteenth-century novels, characters often strive to marry someone with a comfortable competency to ensure their social standing.

Teaching tip: This sense is rarely found in modern speech and is mostly encountered in 18th and 19th-century literature.

## Examples

- The job requires a high level of technical competency.
- The new training program focuses on core competency development to ensure all staff can handle emergency procedures.
- While the candidate possessed the necessary academic qualifications, the interview panel questioned his cultural competency regarding the diverse needs of the local community.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.