What does efficience mean?
Efficience is a largely obsolete English noun denoting effectiveness — the capacity to produce a desired result. Formed from the same Latin root as words like efficient and efficacy, it served for centuries as a standard way of expressing what we now call efficiency or effectiveness. It appeared in philosophical, scientific, and general writing alike, describing everything from the power of causes to produce effects to the practical usefulness of tools and methods. Over time, however, efficiency displaced it almost entirely, and efficience now survives mainly in older printed works and specialized historical discussion. Encountering it today usually signals either an archaic source or a deliberate stylistic choice. For contemporary writing, efficiency or efficacy is the appropriate choice; knowing efficience, though, is valuable for readers of older texts, where mistaking it for a misspelling would be an easy error to make.
nounAn archaic term for efficiency; the quality or capacity of producing a desired effect.
- The quality of being efficacious; effectiveness in producing a desired result (archaic).
"The machine was admired for the efficience with which it converted steam into motion."
"Early engineers praised the efficience of the new pump design."
"In older philosophical texts, efficience often describes the power of a cause to bring about its effect."
Efficience isn't a typo for efficiency — it's the word's older ancestor, now all but vanished from everyday English.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of efficience
Efficience derives from Latin efficere, meaning 'to accomplish' or 'to bring about', formed from ex- ('out') plus facere ('to make or do'). It entered English via Old French in late Middle English, sharing its origin with related words such as efficient, efficacy, and efficacious. As English usage evolved, efficiency became the preferred form, leaving efficience largely archaic by the modern era.
How efficience is actually used
Efficience is archaic and rarely encountered outside historical, philosophical, or theological texts. Modern writers should use efficiency or efficacy instead; using efficience today reads as deliberately antiquated and may be mistaken for an error.
Easily confused with efficience
Efficiency is the standard modern word for producing results with minimal waste, while efficience is its archaic predecessor that survives only in rare or historical use.
Efficacy refers to the ability to produce a desired result at all, whereas efficience (like efficiency) carries a sense of effective operation.