Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The state of being competent; fitness; ability; adequacy; power.

2. (n.) Property or means sufficient for the necessaries and conveniences of life; sufficiency without excess.

3. (n.) Legal capacity or qualifications; fitness; as, the competency of a witness or of a evidence.

4. (n.) Right or authority; legal power or capacity to take cognizance of a cause; as, the competence of a judge or court.