Dictionary

expedience en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɛkˈspiː.dɪ.əns/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English expedience, from Old French expedience, from Late Latin expedientia, from Latin expediens.

Meanings

1. (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
2. (countable, uncountable) Speed, haste or urgency.
   • making hither with all due expedience 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]:
   • The sense of expedience that allowed White to cut deals and keep moving had made many, mistakenly, see him as shallow or, worse, unprincipled. 2008, Thomas Dyja, Walter White: The Dilemma of Black Identity in America, page 178:
3. (countable, uncountable) Something that is expedient.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) An expedition; enterprise; adventure.
   • forwarding this dear expedience 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]:

Forms

Synonyms

expediency (speed, haste or urgency) · expediency (fitness or suitableness)

Translations (6)

es prisa (speed, haste or urgency) · es priesa (speed, haste or urgency) · es urgencia (speed, haste or urgency) · es rapidez (speed, haste or urgency) · nl haast (speed, haste or urgency) · nl spoed (speed, haste or urgency)