Efficiencies

How to spell efficiencies

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce efficiencies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does efficiencies mean?

1. nounImprovements or savings achieved by doing work with less waste of time, money, or resources.

Efficiencies in a sentence

• The merger was expected to deliver significant cost efficiencies across both companies.

• Automating the invoices created real efficiencies in the finance team.

Where does efficiencies come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb efficere, meaning 'to work out, accomplish, or bring about', which was formed from ex-, meaning 'out' or 'thoroughly', and facere, meaning 'to do or make'. From that verb came the abstract noun efficientia, describing the power of producing an effect or getting things done. English took the singular 'efficiency' in the seventeenth century, originally in the sense of being effective in producing a result; the modern flavour of doing work with little waste of effort or resources hardened during the industrial age. The plural 'efficiencies' is now common in business and engineering to mean particular savings or gains in productivity. The same facere root sits inside a whole family of relatives such as 'effect', 'efficient', and 'factory', which is a useful reminder that the double f comes from the assimilated ex- prefix meeting the f of facere.

How the word is built

• ef- (from ex-: out, thoroughly)
• fic (from Latin facere: to do, make)
• -ient (adjective suffix)
• -cy/-cies (noun-forming suffix, plural)