competence

CEFRC1

/ˈkɒm.pə.təns/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
The ability to do something well.
02
noun
Extra detail
The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language, as opposed to its actual use in concrete situations (performance), cf. linguistic competence.

Examples

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task or skill.
the legal authority to deal with a matter.

In context

Linguistic competence is inborn, not acquired.
The bill was denied royal assent because the Scottish Parliament does not have legislative competence on the bill's matter.
Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, / Lie in three words — health, peace, and competence.

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Question 1 · Quick check

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence.
2005, Lies Sercu, Ewa Bandura, Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence: An International Investigation
Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, / Lie in three words — health, peace, and competence.
1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC
K C Wheare's definition of federalism requires that two governments be independent and co-ordinate within their own spheres, generally set out by the division of competences codified in a constitution, which is supreme.
2016, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, “Division of competences in the European Union”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
Also, the Constitutional Court has tried to reduce impunity in cases of human rights abuses by narrowly interpreting the legal competence of military justice to investigate military and police officers.
2003, Rodrigo Uprimny, “The constitutional court and control of presidential extraordinary powers in Colombia”, in Democratization, archived from the original on 09 May 2021
“money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. Beyond a competence, it can afford no real satisfaction, as far as mere self is concerned.”
1811, Jane Austen, chapter 17, in Sense and Sensibility

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Borrowed from Middle French compétence, from Late Latin competentia. Doublet of competency.