different between working vs proficient

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w??k??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w?k??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)k??
• Hyphenation: work?ing

Etymology 1

From Middle English werking, werkynge, warkynge, worchinge, from Old English wyr?ung (“working, work”), verbal noun of wyr?an (“to work”), equivalent to work +? -ing. Cognate with Scots wirking, warking, Dutch werking, German Wirkung.

Noun

working (countable and uncountable, plural workings)

1. (usually in the plural) Operation; action.
2. Method of operation.
3. (arithmetic) The incidental or subsidiary calculations performed in solving an overall problem.

4. Fermentation.
5. (of bodies of water) Becoming full of a vegetable substance.
6. A place where work is carried on.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English workyng, wirkynge, worchinge, werchinge, workinde, wirkand, worchende, wurchende, from Old English wyr?ende, from Proto-Germanic *wurkijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *wurkijan? (“to work”), equivalent to work +? -ing. Compare Scots wirkand, werkand, warkand (“working”), Dutch werkend (“working, acting”), German wirkend (“acting, working”).

Verb

working

1. present participle of work

Adjective

working (not comparable)

1. That is or are functioning.

2. That suffices but requires additional work.

3. In paid employment.

4. Of or relating to employment.

5. Enough to allow one to use something.

   a working knowledge of computers

6. Used in real life; practical.

Synonyms

• (functioning):: functioning; up (mainly used of computers):
• (that suffices but requires further work):: draft, provisional, temporary
• (in paid employment):: employed, in employment
• (of or relating to employment):: work
• (enough to allow one to use something):: basic

Antonyms

• (functioning):: broken, broken-down, down (mainly used of computers):

Derived terms

Hyponyms

• known-working

Translations

Related terms

• work

References

• working in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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?