Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or condition of being deficient; incompleteness or inadequacy.
  • noun A lack or shortage, especially of something essential to health.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being deficient; a lack or failing; a falling short; incompleteness, as of intelligence, attainments, or performance.
  • noun That in which a person or thing is deficient; an imperfection.
  • noun Lack of the necessary quantity, number, etc.; inadequacy; insufficiency: as, a deficiency of troops; a deficiency of blood.
  • noun Absence; loss.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state of being deficient; inadequacy; want; failure; imperfection; shortcoming; defect.
  • noun (Geom.) the amount by which the number of double points on a curve is short of the maximum for curves of the same degree.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable Inadequacy or incompleteness.
  • noun countable An insufficiency, especially of something essential to health.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun lack of an adequate quantity or number
  • noun the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

deficit +‎ -ency

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Examples

  • It has been demonstrated that a blood protein deficiency is the cause of this inherited illness.

    Hives, urticaria, angiodema, allergic reactions 2003

  • Protein deficiency is common in children (43% of children five years of age or less) resulting not only in a high mortality rate but irreversible mental retardation and restricted body development in survivors.

    There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch 1974

  • The best vitamin E form for preventing or reversing this deficiency is the liquid form: tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS), because the body absorbs it more readily.

    Vitamin Supplementation for Children With Alagille Syndrome 2005

  • Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency: a hereditary disease that can cause hepatitis and liver failure.

    Who needs a liver transplant? 2009

  • Despite worldwide incidence and a disparate impact on African-American communities, this peer-reviewed article cogently observed that "newborn screening for G6PD deficiency is not performed routinely in the United States."

    Randall Amster: The Most Common Disease You've Never Heard Of Randall Amster 2010

  • Although my asymmetric hearing deficiency is most likely a congenital problem — that was nevertheless almost undetectable until my early 20s — the doctor wants to do one more test to rule out a benign tumor.

    What? AYDIN 2009

  • Although my asymmetric hearing deficiency is most likely a congenital problem — that was nevertheless almost undetectable until my early 20s — the doctor wants to do one more test to rule out a benign tumor.

    Archive 2009-08-01 AYDIN 2009

  • The five diseases studied by the CLiC team are: Alagille Syndrome (AGS), Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (a-1AT), Bile acid synthesis and metabolism defects, Mitochondrial hepatopathies, and Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC).

    Links and Resources for Alagille Syndrome 2010

  • Folic acid deficiency is a leading cause of spina bifida and other neural tube defects in newborns, and can be prevented by taking folic acid supplementation during pregnancy.

    Folic Acid Supplementation - Too Much of a Good Thing? aka TBTAM 2009

  • Quite likely the single biggest piece of good news about G6PD deficiency is that it is widely understood to confer protection against malaria, in particular the most deadly form of that disease.

    Randall Amster: The Most Common Disease You've Never Heard Of Randall Amster 2010

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