Definition of "competency"

the next day they returned unsuspected, leaving their confederates to follow, and in the interim, to convay them a competencie of all things they could […]

1612, John Smith, Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia, Kupperman, published 1988, page 178

[…] it would appear that before taking this precaution Mr. Bree must have had the thrift to remove a modest competency of the gold […]

1892, Ambrose Bierce, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians - A Holy Terror

Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

And that knights competency you haue gotten / VVith care and labour: he vvith luſt and idleneſſe / VVill bring into the ſtypend of a begger; […]

1604 (first performance), George Chapman, Al Fooles: A Comedy, […], London: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorpe, published 1605, Act I

He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it. He knew that the lack made a man petty, mean, grasping; it distorted his character and caused him to view the world from a vulgar angle; when you had to consider every penny, money became of grotesque importance: you needed a competency to rate it at its proper value.

1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter CXVI, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company

The loan demonstrates, in regard to instrumental resources, the competency of this kingdom to the assertion of the common cause.

1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in [Letters on a Regicide Peace], London: [Rivington]

What professional competencies do science teachers need?

1961, National Council for Elementary Science (U.S.), Science Education

By the year 2000, American students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, history, and geography....

2004, Bill Clinton, My Life

The decision was then made to return '91s' and Mk 4s. These are being retained on the Yorkshire routes to keep driver competency in one area, to help with operations.

2021 May 19, Richard Clinnick, “Fleet News: LNER to return Class 91s/Mk 4s to East Coast duties”, in Rail, number 931, page 26