Standard Lemma guide

self-sufficiency

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH2 L F S AH0 F IH1 SH AH0 N S IY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The condition of being self-sufficient.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

personal independence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: autonomy, self-direction, self-reliance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: independence, independency

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbh-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English sufficiency English self-sufficiency From self- + sufficiency.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: autosuficiencia — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Bulgarian: самодоста́тъчност (samodostátǎčnost) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Bulgarian: самостоя́телност (samostojátelnost) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Catalan: autosuficiència — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自給自足 /自给自足 (zìjǐzìzú) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Czech: soběstačnost — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Danish: selvforsyning — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Dutch: zelfvoorziening — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Esperanto: memsufiĉo — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Finnish: omavaraisuus — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Finnish: itseriittoisuus — condition of being self-sufficient
  • French: autosuffisance — condition of being self-sufficient
  • French: autonomie — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Galician: autosuficiencia — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Georgian: თვითკმარობა (tvitḳmaroba) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Georgian: დამოუკიდებლობა (damouḳidebloba) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Georgian: ავტარკია (avṭarḳia) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Selbstversorgung — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Nahrungsmittelselbstversorgung — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Nahrungsmittel-Selbstversorgung — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Autarkie — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Selbstgenügsamkeit — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: Selbstständigkeit — condition of being self-sufficient
  • German: wirtschaftliche Unabhängigkeit — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Greek: αυτάρκεια (aftárkeia) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Ancient Greek: αὐτάρκεια (autárkeia) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Hindi: आत्मनिर्भरता (ātmanirbhartā) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Hindi: स्वावलंब (svāvlamb) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Hungarian: önellátás — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Indonesian: swa sembada — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Interlingua: autosustenentia — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Irish: neamhthuilleamaíocht — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Italian: autosufficienza — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Japanese: 自給自足 (jikyūjisoku) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Korean: 자급자족 (jageupjajok) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Persian: اتکای به نفس (ettekâ-ye be nafs) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Polish: samowystarczalność — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Portuguese: autossuficiência — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Portuguese: autonomia — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Russian: самодоста́точность (samodostátočnostʹ) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Russian: самостоя́тельность (samostojátelʹnostʹ) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Russian: автоно́мность (avtonómnostʹ) — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Scottish Gaelic: fèin-fhoghainteachd — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Slovak: sebestačnosť — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Spanish: autosuficiencia — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Swedish: självförsörjning — condition of being self-sufficient
  • Ukrainian: самодоста́тність (samodostátnistʹ) — condition of being self-sufficient