Plural of deficiency; the condition of not having enough of something needed, like a lack of vitamins or skills.
From Latin 'deficiente' meaning 'failing or lacking,' from 'deficere' (to fail). The word entered English in the 1500s to describe shortages or inadequacies of any kind.
Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, a disease that killed more sailors than storms did—British sailors were eventually called 'limeys' because lime juice prevented it, and it completely changed naval history!
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