Sufficience

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being enough or adequate for a particular purpose
2. A condition in which necessary resources or qualities are sufficiently available to meet demands
3. The measure of having an appropriate degree or level of something to satisfy requirements or needs

Etymology: Sufficience came into English from Old French "sufficience," which itself descends from the Late Latin "sufficientia." The Latin root is "sufficere," meaning to suffice or be enough, built from "sub" (under, up to) and "facere" (to make or do). Literally, the idea is of something made to reach up to a required level, which is how the sense of adequacy grew out of the sense of putting enough in place. The noun carries the same meaning as its more familiar relative "sufficiency," and the two descend from the same Latin stock by the same route. Where "sufficiency" has become the everyday form, "sufficience" survives as the older, rarer spelling. Its core sense has stayed steady: a condition in which what is available is enough for the purpose at hand.

Synonyms: sufficiency, adequacy, enough, ample, plenty

Antonyms: insufficiency, lack, deficiency, shortage