Meaning of efficient in English | Powered by Free Dictionary API

noun

• A cause; something that causes an effect

adjective

• Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy

  Example: An efficient process would automate all the routine work.

• Expressing the proportion of consumed energy that was successfully used in a process; the ratio of useful output to total input

  Example: The motor is only 20% efficient at that temperature.

• Causing effects, producing results; bringing into being; initiating change (rare except in philosophical and legal expression efficient cause = causative factor or agent)

  Example: Ownership, maintenance, or use of the automobile need not be the direct and efficient cause of the injury sustained

• (old use) effective