competence
/ˈkɑm.pə.təns/noun
competence is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-C-E. The wrong spelling people search most is competance: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026). Competence is a noun meaning “The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role”. The plural of competence is competences.
How many letters and syllables are in competence?
| Letters | 10: C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, competance, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell competence?
Competence is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-C-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is competence?
Competence appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce competence?
- UK /ˈkɒm.pə.təns/
- US /ˈkɑm.pə.təns/
- Canada /ˈkɒm.pə.təns/
Competence has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-competence.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of competence
- competences plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does competence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
- 2
The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task or skill.
- 3
The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language, as opposed to its actual use in concrete situations (performance), cf. linguistic competence.
- 4
datedA sustainable income.
- 5
the legal authority to deal with a matter.
The bill was denied royal assent because the Scottish Parliament does not have legislative competence on the bill's matter.
- 6
The degree to which a rock is resistant to deformation or flow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Competence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | compétence |
| German | Kompetenz, Befähigung, Zuständigkeit , Sachkunde, Befugnis |
| Portuguese | competência |
| Spanish | competenza |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does competence come from?
Borrowed from Middle French compétence, from Late Latin competentia. Doublet of competency.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).