expedience

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛk.spiː.dɪ.əns/

Noun

expedience (countable and uncountable; plural expediences)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended; propriety or advisability under the particular circumstances of a case.
   • Sharp

     To determine concerning the expedience of action.

2. Speed, haste or urgency.
   • Shakespeare

     Making hither with all due expedience.

   • 2008, Jeffrey J. Rowland, Wigu: Day 13: Saturday in the Park

     We must spring into action with a relentless sense of expedience and determination!

3. Something that is expedient.
4. (obsolete) An expedition; enterprise; adventure.
   • Shakespeare

     Forwarding this dear expedience.

Synonyms

• (fitness or suitableness): expediency
• (speed, haste or urgency): expediency

Related terms

• expede
• expediency
• expedient
• expedite
• expedition

Translations

quality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end

• Bulgarian: удобство (bg) (udobstvo) n, целесъобразност (bg) (celesǎobraznost) f

• Dutch: toepasselijkheid (nl) f, passendheid (nl) f, gepastheid (nl) f

speed, haste or urgency

• Dutch: haast (nl) c, spoed (nl) m

something that is expedient

References

• OED2
• “expediency” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• expedience in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• expedience at OneLook Dictionary Search