English
incompetent
Incompetent comes from Latin incompetēns ‘insufficient’, and goes back to competēns ‘meeting, coinciding, agreeing’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompetēns1‘meeting, coinciding, agreeing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincompetēns2‘insufficient’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEincompetentem2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentincompétent2
- Englishearliest quotation 1915incompetent2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin incompetens
- 2 Wiktionary, English incompetent
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, Henry Smith Williams, Edward Huntington Williams: “But besides these incompetents, there was always a train…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompetēnsWiktionary, Latin incompetens‘meeting, coinciding, agreeing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincompetēnsWiktionary, English incompetent‘insufficient’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEincompetentemWiktionary, English incompetent
- Frenchc. 1600–presentincompétentWiktionary, English incompetent
- Englishearliest quotation 1915incompetentWiktionary, English incompetent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, Henry Smith Williams, Edward Huntington Williams: “But besides these incompetents, there was always a train…”
Linked words
through Latin competēns ‘meeting, coinciding, agreeing’
Today it means
adj Lacking the degree of ability and responsibility necessary to do a task successfully.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “incompetent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin incompetens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin competēns / incompetent