efficient: difference between revisions

 

===Pronunciation===

 

===Adjective===

 

# making good, [[thorough]], or careful use of [[resources]]; not [[consuming]] extra. Especially, making good use of [[time]] or [[energy]]

#* {{quote-journal|en|title=A better waterworks|date=2013-06-01|volume=407|issue=8838

|url=http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21578526-medical-technology-artificial-kidneys-are-getting-closer-becoming-clinical

|passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic{{...}}real kidneys{{...}}. But they are nothing like as '''efficient''', and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.}}

# expressing the [[proportion]] of [[consumed]] [[energy]] that was successfully used in a process; the ratio of useful output to total input

#: {{ux|en|The motor is only 20% '''efficient''' at that temperature.}}

# causing effects, producing results; bringing into being; initiating [[change]] (rare except in philosophical and legal expression ''[[efficient cause]]'' = [[causative]] [[factor]] or [[agent]])

#: {{ux|en|Ownership, maintenance, or use of the automobile need not be the direct and '''efficient''' cause of the injury sustained}}

 

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 still lists {{m|en|efficient}} and {{m|en|effective}} as synonyms, but all major dictionaries now show that these words now only have different meanings in careful use. Use of both for the other meaning is however widespread enough that Longman's Exam Dictionary, for example, finds it necessary to proscribe the use of one for the other with several examples at each entry and provides the following summary:

* {{m|en|efficient||working quickly and without waste}}

 

====Derived terms====

 

====Related terms====

* Greek:

*: Ancient: {{t|grc|δραστικός}}

* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|gazdaságos}}, {{t+|hu|hatékony}}

* Icelandic: {{t|is|skilvirkur|m}}, {{t|is|nýtinn|m}}

* Ido: {{t+|io|efikiva}}

* Latin: {{t|la|efficiens}}

* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|eficiente}}

* Romanian: {{t+|ro|eficient}}

* Scottish Gaelic: {{t|gd|èifeachdach}}

* Spanish: {{t+|es|eficiente}}, {{t+|es|eficaz}}

* Ukrainian: {{t|uk|ефекти́вний}}

{{trans-bottom}}

* Dutch: {{t+|nl|efficiënt}}

* Finnish: {{t+|fi|hyötysuhde}} {{q|noun}}

* French: {{t+|fr|efficace}}

* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|gazdaságos}}, {{t+|hu|hatékony}}

* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|eficaz}}

* Scottish Gaelic: {{t|gd|èifeachdach}}

{{trans-bottom}}

 

{{trans-top|causing effects; producing results}}

* Finnish: {{t+|fi|tehokas}}

* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|eficaz}}

* Sanskrit: {{t+|sa|साधन}}

* Spanish: {{t+|es|eficaz}}

 

# {{lb|en|obsolete}} a [[cause]]; something that causes an effect

 

===References===

<references />

 

{{C|en|Personality}}

 

==Danish==

===Further reading===

* {{R:DDO}}

 

==French==

 

===Etymology===

 

===Pronunciation===

* {{fr-IPA}}

* {{homophones|fr|efficients}}

 

 

===Further reading===

 

==Latin==

 

===Verb===

 

# {{inflection of|la|efficiō||3|p|futr|actv|ind}}