different between knowing vs proficient

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?no???/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n????/
• Rhymes: -????

Adjective

knowing (comparative more knowing, superlative most knowing)

1. Possessing knowledge or understanding; intelligent.

   • The knowing and intelligent part of the world.

2. Shrewd or showing clever awareness.

3. Suggestive of private knowledge.
4. Deliberate

Translations

Verb

knowing

1. present participle of know

Derived terms

• knowingly

Noun

knowing (plural knowings)

1. The act or condition of having knowledge.
   • 2009, Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind (60th Anniversary Edition, 1949, page 194)

     Sensations then, are not perceivings, observings or findings; they are not detectings, scannings or inspectings; they are not apprehendings, cognisings, intuitings or knowings.

English

Etymology

From Latin proficiens, present participle of proficere (“to go forward, advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable or useful”), from pro (“forth, forward”) + facere (“to make, do”); see fact.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???f??.?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p?o??f??.?nt/, /p???f??.?nt/
• Rhymes: -???nt

Adjective

proficient (comparative more proficient, superlative most proficient)

1. Good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.

   He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     By constant playing and experimenting with these he learned to tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses; and with these he and the younger apes amused themselves. What Tarzan did they tried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient.

Synonyms

• (good at): skilled, fluent, practiced

Translations

Noun

proficient (plural proficients)

1. An expert.
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 10, [1]

     Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?

Synonyms

• (expert): expert; see also Thesaurus:skilled person

Translations

Related terms

• profit
• profitability
• profitable
• profiteer
• proficiency

Further reading

• proficient in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• proficient in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Latin

Verb

pr?ficient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of pr?fici?