DEFICIENCY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deficiency mean? 

• DEFICIENCY (noun)
  The noun DEFICIENCY has 2 senses:

1. the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

2. lack of an adequate quantity or number

  Familiarity information: DEFICIENCY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEFICIENCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

deficiency; lack; want

Context example:

for want of a nail the shoe was lost

Hypernyms ("deficiency" is a kind of...):

demand; need (a condition requiring relief)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deficiency"):

absence (the state of being absent)

dearth; famine; shortage (an acute insufficiency)

deficit (a deficiency or failure in neurological or mental functioning)

mineral deficiency (lack of a mineral micronutrient that is essential for normal nutrition or metabolism)

shortness (the condition of being short of something)

stringency; tightness (a state occasioned by scarcity of money and a shortage of credit)

Derivation:

deficient (falling short of some prescribed norm)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lack of an adequate quantity or number

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

deficiency; inadequacy; insufficiency

Context example:

the inadequacy of unemployment benefits

Hypernyms ("deficiency" is a kind of...):

amount (the relative magnitude of something with reference to a criterion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deficiency"):

exiguity; leanness; meagerness; meagreness; poorness; scantiness; scantness (the quality of being meager)

deficit; shortage; shortfall (the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required)

scarceness; scarcity (a small and inadequate amount)

slenderness (the quality of being slight or inadequate)

Derivation:

deficient (inadequate in amount or degree)

deficient (of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement)

 Context examples 

Deficiency of a coagulation factor that is not caused by genetic alterations.

(Acquired Coagulation Factor Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

Rickets that is caused by vitamin D deficiency, hypocalcemia, or renal failure.

(Acquired Rickets, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutations in the gene are associated with short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.

(ACADS wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutation in the gene is associated with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.

(ACADM wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

It results in multiple vitamin deficiencies.

(Abetalipoproteinemia, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutation of the gene is associated with acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 deficiency.

(ACACA wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

It is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme porphobilinogen deaminase, which is involved in heme biosynthesis.

(Acute Intermittent Porphyria, NCI Thesaurus)

ACVRL1 deficiency causes hemorrhagic telangiectasia type 2, which is also also known as Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome 2.

(ACVRL1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

An autosomal recessive inherited disorder characterized by a deficiency of the enzyme very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase that metabolizes long-chain fatty acids.

(Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase, Very Long-Chain Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

ADA-transduced T cells have been shown to improve immune function in individuals with ADA deficiency.

(ADA Transduced T Cell, NCI Thesaurus)