expedience
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English expedience, from Old French expedience, from Late Latin expedientia, from Latin expediens.
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ɛk.spiː.dɪ.əns/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
editexpedience (countable and uncountable, plural expediences)
- (uncountable) The quality of being fit or suitable to cause some desired end or the purpose intended; propriety or advisability under the particular circumstances of a case.
- April 11 1690, John Sharp, sermon preached at White-Hall
- to determine concerning the expedience of actions
- April 11 1690, John Sharp, sermon preached at White-Hall
- Speed, haste or urgency.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- making hither with all due expedience
- 2008, Thomas Dyja, Walter White: The Dilemma of Black Identity in America, page 178:
- The sense of expedience that allowed White to cut deals and keep moving had made many, mistakenly, see him as shallow or, worse, unprincipled.
- Something that is expedient.
- (obsolete) An expedition; enterprise; adventure.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- forwarding this dear expedience
Synonyms
edit- (fitness or suitableness): expediency
- (speed, haste or urgency): expediency
Related terms
editTranslations
editquality of being fit or suitable to effect some desired end — see expediency
something that is expedient
References
edit- OED2
- expediency in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- “expedience”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “expedience”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “expedience”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ped-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses