deficiency

n. lack, shortage; defect

A deficiency is a lack of something.In mathematics, a deficient number is a number n for which σ(n) < 2n.In medicine there are a variety of nutrient deficiencies:Avitaminosis is a deficiency of vitamins.Boron deficiency (medicine)Chromium deficiencyIron deficiency (medicine)Iodine deficiencyMagnesium deficiency (medicine)In construction, a deficiency is an item or condition that is considered sub-standard or below minimum expectations, such as those mandated by either drawings or specifications or the building code or the fire code, and/or any combination of the foregoing. Deficiencies are routinely discussed and dealt with in construction site meetings.In genetics, a genetic deletion is also called a Deficiency.In Real estate law, a deficiency in the ability to pay off a debt is also called a deficiency judgment or deficiency judgement.
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Noun
1. the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost"
(synonym) lack, want
(hypernym) need, demand
(hyponym) absence
2. lack of an adequate quantity or number; "the inadequacy of unemployment benefits"
(synonym) insufficiency, inadequacy
(hypernym) amount
(hyponym) meagerness, meagreness, poorness, scantiness, scantness, exiguity

(n.)
The state of being deficient; inadequacy; want; failure; imperfection; shortcoming; defect.
  

In medicine, a shortage of a substance (such as a vitamin or mineral) needed by the body.