different between orderly vs efficient

English

Alternative forms

• ordrely (obsolete)

Etymology

From order +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???d?li/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???d?li/
• Hyphenation: or?der?ly

Adjective

orderly (comparative more orderly, superlative most orderly)

1. Neat and tidy; possessing order.

   He has always kept an orderly kitchen, with nothing out of place.

2. Methodical or systematic.

   We live in an orderly universe, where rules govern both the movements of planets and the binding of molecules.

3. Peaceful; well-behaved.

   An orderly gathering of citizens stood on the corner awaiting the bus.

4. Being on duty; keeping order; conveying orders.

Synonyms

• (possessing order): regular, trim, well-kept; see also Thesaurus:orderly
• (methodical or systematic): See also Thesaurus:methodical

Derived terms

• orderliness

Translations

Noun

orderly (plural orderlies)

1. A hospital attendant given a variety of non-medical duties.
2. A soldier who carries out minor tasks for a superior officer.

Translations

Adverb

orderly (comparative more orderly, superlative most orderly)

1. (now rare) According to good order or practice; appropriately, in a well-behaved or orderly (adjective) way. [from 15th c.]
   • 1991, Chor-San Heng Khoo, Physics of Liquid Crystalline Materials, CRC Press (?ISBN), page 33:

     Phase R: the rods are linked three by three and form planar twodimensional hexagonal networks. In both cases, the networks are orderly stacked in a three-dimensional lattice.

   • 2014, Huei-Huang Lee, Finite Element Simulations with ANSYS Workbench 15: Theory, Applications, Case Studies, SDC Publications (?ISBN), page 191:

     The rectangles are orderly stacked with the topmost rectangle representing the most visible entity and subsequent rectangles representing entities underneath the mouse cursor, front to back.

2. (obsolete) In order; in a particular order or succession; with a suitable arrangement. [15th-19th c.]
   • 1567, Arthur Golding, translating Ovid, Metamorphoses, I:

     The earth from heaven, the sea from earth, he parted orderly, / And from the thicke and foggie ayre, he tooke the lightsome skie.

   • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p.149:

     And in the Tombe which is an arch made of mats, they lay them orderly.

Synonyms

• (in order): methodically, systematically; see also Thesaurus:methodically

Anagrams

• ordrely

English

Etymology

1398, “making,” from Old French, from Latin efficientem, nominative effici?ns, participle of efficere (“work out, accomplish”) (see effect). Meaning “productive, skilled” is from 1787. Efficiency apartment is first recorded 1930, American English.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??f???nt/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /??f???nt/
• Rhymes: -???nt

Adjective

efficient (comparative more efficient, superlative most efficient)

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

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

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

   • It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.

4. (proscribed, old use) effective
   • 1801, Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer:

     Ye wake no more to anguish;? ye have borne
     The Chosen, the Destroyer!? soon his hand
     Shall strike the efficient blow;
     Soon shaking off your penal forms, shall ye,
     With songs of joy, amid the Eden groves,
     Hymn the Deliverer’s praise!

   • 1856, William Dexter Wilson, An Elementary Treatise on Logic

     The Efficient Cause is that from which emanates the force that produces the Effect

Usage notes

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1913 still lists efficient and 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:

• efficient (“working quickly and without waste”)
• effective (“having the desired effect”)

Antonyms

• inefficient

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

efficient (plural efficients)

1. (obsolete) a cause; something that causes an effect
   • 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, I.14:

     Some are without efficient, as God; others without matter, as Angels […].

   • a. 1758, Jonathan Edwards, Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity

     This implies, that something happens without a cause. If it should be said, that motive in this case is not the efficient of the action or doing — this is granted; but at the same time, for reasons already given, it is denied, that the man himself is the efficient cause of it.

References

Danish

Adjective

efficient

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Inflection

Further reading

• “efficient” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Latin effici?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.fi.sj??/
• Homophone: efficients

Adjective

efficient (feminine singular efficiente, masculine plural efficients, feminine plural efficientes)

1. efficient
2. effective

Related terms

• efficience

Further reading

• “efficient” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ef?fi.ki.ent/, [?f?f?ki?n?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ef?fi.t??i.ent/, [?f?fi?t??i?n?t?]

Verb

efficient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of effici?