proficient

English

Etymology

From Latin proficiens, present participle of proficere (“to go forward, advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable or useful”), from pro (“forth, forward”) + facere (“to make, do”); see fact.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈfɪʃ.ənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɹoʊˈfɪʃ.ənt/, /pɹəˈfɪʃ.ənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

proficient (comparative more proficient, superlative most proficient)

1. Good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.

   He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     By constant playing and experimenting with these he learned to tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses; and with these he and the younger apes amused themselves. What Tarzan did they tried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient.

Synonyms

• (good at): skilled, fluent, practiced

Translations

skilled

• Catalan: perit (ca), capaç (ca), versat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熟練 (zh), 熟练 (zh) (shúliàn), 諳練 (zh), 谙练 (zh) (ānliàn), 精通的

• Dutch: geoefend (nl), competent (nl), bekwaam (nl)
• Finnish: taitava (fi); sujuva (fi) (of language)
• French: compétent (fr)
• German: tüchtig (de), fähig (de), kompetent (de), befähigt (de), bewandert (de), erfahren (de), sachkundig, geübt (de), geschickt (de)
• Hindi: प्रवीण (hi) (pravīṇ)
• Icelandic: fær (is), snjall (is)
• Italian: competente (it), esperto (it), proficuo (it)

• Japanese: 熟練 (ja) (じゅくれん, jukuren) (+ -な -na), 上手 (ja) (じょうず, jōzu) (+ -な -na)
• Manx: aghtal
• Maori: kaiaka
• Norwegian: flink (no)
• Portuguese: proficiente (pt), competente (pt), perito (pt)
• Russian: уме́лый (ru) (umélyj), иску́сный (ru) (iskúsnyj), компете́нтный (ru) (kompeténtnyj)
• Swedish: sakkunnig (sv), erfaren (sv)
• Tagalog: dalubhasa
• Turkish: becerikli (tr), ehliyetli (tr), kabiliyetli (tr), mahir (tr), mütehassıs (tr), usta (tr), uzman (tr), yeterli (tr)

Noun

proficient (plural proficients)

1. An expert.
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 10, [1]

     Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?

Synonyms

• (expert): expert; see also Wikisaurus:skilled person

Translations

expert

• Dutch: expert (nl)
• Finnish: taituri
• German: Fachmann (de) m, Fachfrau (de) f, Meister (de) m, Meisterin (de) f, Experte (de) m, Profi (de) m, Sachkundiger m
• Hindi: प्रवीण (hi) m (pravīṇ)

• Italian: esperto (it) m
• Portuguese: perito (pt) m
• Turkish: usta (tr)

Related terms

• profit
• profitability
• profitable
• profiteer
• proficiency

Further reading

• proficient in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• proficient in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

---

Latin

Verb

prōficient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of prōficiō