different between sagacity vs competence

English

Etymology

sagac(ious) +? -ity, from French sagacité, from Latin sag?cit?s (“sagaciousness”), from sag?x (“of quick perception, acute, sagacious”), from s?gi? (“I perceive by the senses”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s???æs?ti/, /s???æs?ti/

Noun

sagacity (usually uncountable, plural sagacities)

1. (obsolete) Keen sense of smell.
   • 1607, Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts, Serpents, and Insects, London: G. Sawbridge et al., 1658, p. 352,^[1]

     […] this Beast [the Ichneumon] is not only enemy to the Crocodile and Asp, but also to their Egs, which she hunteth out by the sagacity of her nose, and so destroyeth them […]

2. The quality of being sage, wise, or able to make good decisions; the quality of being perceptive, astute or insightful.
   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Volume 3, Chapter 15,^[2]

     Young ladies have great penetration in such matters as these; but I think I may defy even your sagacity, to discover the name of your admirer.

   • 1904, M. P. Shiel, The Evil That Men Do, London: Ward, Lock & Co., Chapter ,^[3]

     Immediately after the meal, when he was alone again, he set to work to examine Drayton’s papers, of which there lay quite a mass on the table near him and, leaning toward the lamp on his elbow, he weighed the meaning of each with a certain sideward sagacity of gaze, a sagacity that smiled in its self-sureness.

     Swiss Family Robinson- "....near the mouth of a creek, towards which all our geese and ducks betook themselves; and I, relying on their sagacity, followed in the same course."

   Synonyms: sagaciousness, wisdom

Related terms

• sagacious

Translations

Further reading

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

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French compétence, from Late Latin competentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?mp?t?ns/

Noun

competence (countable and uncountable, plural competences)

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.
2. (countable) The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task.
3. (linguistics) The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language, as opposed to its actual use in concrete situations (performance), cf. w:linguistic competence.
4. (dated) A sustainable income.
5. (countable, law, politics) the legal authority to deal with a matter.
6. (geology) The degree to which a rock is resistant to deformation or flow.

Synonyms

• ability
• competency
• nous
• savoir-faire
• knack (colloq.)
• aptitude
• See also Thesaurus:skill

Antonyms

• inability
• ineptitude
• incompetence

Related terms

• compete
• competition
• competentness

Translations

References

• “competence” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.