deficit

UK/ˈdɛfɪsɪt/US/ˈdɛfəsɪt/

nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,040 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: deficits

A deficit is the amount by which something falls short. A budget deficit, a two-goal deficit, deficit spending.

In public finance it is the yearly gap between what a government spends and takes in, and the debt is the total of all past deficits, which people confuse constantly. In sport it is how far behind you are, and in health a deficit is a lost function.

Definitions of deficit

1noundeficitThe amount by which something falls short.C1
“After a week of night shifts, I have a huge sleep deficit to make up.”

deficit is a shortfall.

Where it comes from

Latin deficit means it is lacking, from deficere, to fail — de plus facere, to do.

Proto-Indo-European
*dʰeh₁-
Latin
dēficit
French
déficit
English, today
deficit

From French déficit, from Latin dēficit. Related to defect.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

deficit in the wild

The world's largest trade surpluses are held by China, Germany, and Singapore, while the largest trade deficits are held by the United States, United Kingdom, and India.
Balance of trade
A positive balance is called a government budget surplus, and a negative balance is a government budget deficit.
Government budget balance
The government budget surplus or deficit is a flow variable, since it is an amount per unit of time (typically, per year).
Government budget balance
If not balanced, the government produces either a "national deficit" or "national surplus".
National debt of the United States
If public spending exceeds revenue, the deficit is financed by borrowing money and taking on debt.
National debt of the United States

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

budget deficit

← Vocabulary