efficiency
/ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/noun
efficiency is spelled E-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is efficency: about 380 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 22 of all searches for the word. Efficiency is a noun meaning “The extent to which a resource is used for the intended purpose”. The plural of efficiency is efficiencies.
How many letters and syllables are in efficiency?
| Letters | 10: E-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 24 times per million words; the 3,752nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, efficency, about 380 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 efficiency?
Efficiency is spelled E-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 15 of the searches for efficiency in either form.
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 efficiency?
Efficiency appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd 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 efficiency?
- /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/
- [ɪˈfɪʃn̩si]
- /ɪˈfɪʃ.ɪn.si/
Efficiency has 4 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: En-us-efficiency.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of efficiency
- efficiencies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does efficiency mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The extent to which a resource is used for the intended purpose.
- 2
The ratio of useful work to energy expended. Often given the symbol η.
The efficiency of this loudspeaker is 40%.
- 3
The extent to which time is well used for the intended task.
The efficiency of the planning department is deplorable.
- 4
datedThe quality of producing an effect or effects.
- 5
USA one-room apartment.
I have an efficiency available June through July.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Efficiency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | efficacité , rendement |
| German | Effizienz, Wirkungsgrad , Leistungsfähigkeit, Wirksamkeit , Einzimmerwohnung |
| Portuguese | eficiência |
| Spanish | eficiencia |
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 efficiency come from?
From Latin efficientia, equivalent to efficient + -cy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).