the.com/proficiency
The point where effort stops looking like effort.
means A solid, practiced skill level — competent enough to do the job well without fuss.
from From Latin proficere, 'to advance, make progress' — built from pro ('forward') plus facere ('to make, do'). The same root gives us 'profit,' which was originally about advancing or gaining ground before it narrowed to money. Proficiency entered English around the 1500s, carrying that sense of having moved forward until the skill simply arrived.
- not mastery
- Proficient means competent, not expert or flawless
- CEFR scale
- Language tests use it as a formal, measurable tier
- root cousin
- Shares roots with profit, both about gaining ground