convenience

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin convenientia, from conveniens (“suitable”), present participle of convenire (“to come together, suit”). Doublet of convenance.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈviːnɪəns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈvinjəns/, [kənˈvinjənts]

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /kənˈviːnjəns/, [kənˈvɪinjəns], [kənˈvɪinjənts]
• Hyphenation: con‧ve‧nience

Noun

convenience (countable and uncountable, plural conveniences)

1. The quality of being convenient.

   Synonym: amenity

   Fast food is popular because of its cost and convenience.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:

     Let's further think of this; / Weigh what convenience both of time and means / May fit us to our shape.

   • 1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC:

     Thus first Necessity invented stools, / Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs […]

2. Any object that makes life more convenient; a helpful item.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):

     A pair of spectacles […] and several other little conveniences.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 223:

     ...let Fanchette come in a hackney-coach in the morning, and I will direct the housekeeper to send you something of every thing—plate, candlesticks, lamps, damask—and you won't take it amiss if we should happen to have game or poultry come up that I put that amongst the conveniences;...

   • 1977, David Byrne (lyrics and music), “Don't Worry About the Government”, in Talking Heads: 77, performed by Talking Heads:

     It's over there, it's over there / My building has every convenience / It's gonna make life easy for me

3. A convenient time.

   We will come over and begin the work at your convenience.

4. (chiefly British) Ellipsis of public convenience: a public lavatory.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bathroom

Derived terms

• disconvenience (obsolete)
• ultraconvenience

 

Expressions

• convenience class
• convenience food
• convenience method
• convenience sampling
• convenience store
• flag of convenience
• marriage of convenience
• modern convenience
• public convenience

 

Related terms

• convene
• convenient
• convent
• convention

 

Translations

quality of being suitable, useful or convenient

• Arabic: مُلَاءَمَة f (mulāʔama), مُنَاسَبَة f (munāsaba)
• Assamese: সুবিধা (xubidha)
• Basque: egokitasun
• Belarusian: зру́чнасць f (zrúčnascʹ)
• Bengali: সুবিধা (bn) (śubidha), আসান (bn) (aśan)
• Bulgarian: удо́бство (bg) n (udóbstvo)
• Catalan: conveniència f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方便 (zh) (fāngbiàn), 便利 (zh) (biànlì)

• Czech: pohodlí (cs) n
• Finnish: kätevyys (fi)
• French: convenance (fr) f
• German: Bequemlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: άνεση (el) f (ánesi)
• Hebrew: נוחות (he) f (nokhut)
• Hindi: सुविधा (hi) f (suvidhā)
• Hungarian: kényelem (hu)
• Irish: aosáid f
• Italian: conveniente (it)
• Japanese: 便宜 (ja) (bengi), 便利 (ja) (benri), 利便 (ja) (riben)
• Latin: commoditas f
• Latvian: ērtība f
• Polish: wygoda (pl) f
• Portuguese: conveniência (pt) f, comodidade (pt) f
• Russian: удо́бство (ru) n (udóbstvo), приго́дность (ru) f (prigódnostʹ)
• Slovak: pohodlie n
• Spanish: conveniencia (es)
• Ukrainian: зру́чність f (zrúčnistʹ)

anything that makes for an easier life

• Basque: erosotasun
• Bengali: আসান (bn) (aśan)
• Bulgarian: улесне́ние (bg) n (ulesnénie)
• Catalan: conveniència f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 便利 (zh) (biànlì), 方便 (zh) (fāngbiàn)

• Finnish: mukavuus (fi)
• French: commodité (fr) f, avantage (fr) m
• German: Annehmlichkeit (de) f, Bequemlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: ευκολία (el) f (efkolía), άνεση (el) f (ánesi)
• Hungarian: (more generally) komfort (hu), szolgáltatás (hu) (literally “service”), kellék (hu) (literally “device”), felszerelés (hu) (literally “accessory”)
• Italian: comodità (it)
• Japanese: 便宜 (ja) (bengi), 便利 (ja) (benri), 利便 (ja) (riben)
• Latin: commodum n
• Latvian: ērtība f
• Polish: udogodnienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: conveniência (pt) f, comodidade (pt) f
• Russian: удо́бство (ru) n (udóbstvo)
• Spanish: comodidad (es) f, conveniencia (es)
• Swedish: bekvämlighet (sv) c

convenient time

• Dutch: wanneer het goed uitkomt
• Finnish: sopiva aika; silloin kun Teille sopii (at your convenience)
• Greek: άνεση (el) f (ánesi)
• Hungarian: alkalmas/megfelelő időpont, amikor Önnek megfelel/alkalmas
• Italian: a tempo debito
• Russian: возмо́жность (ru) f (vozmóžnostʹ)

public toilet

• Bulgarian: обществена тоалетна f (obštestvena toaletna)
• Finnish: mukavuuslaitos (fi)
• French: commodités (fr) f pl
• Hungarian: nyilvános WC/mosdó, (formal; dated) nyilvános illemhely
• Italian: bagno pubblico
• Russian: удо́бства (ru) n pl (udóbstva)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} رَاحَة f (rāḥa) (leisure)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} oprtuno, ^{(please verify)} oportuneco
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} convenientia
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} bekvemmelighet (no)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} bekvämlighet (sv)

Verb

convenience (third-person singular simple present conveniences, present participle conveniencing, simple past and past participle convenienced)

1. To make convenient

   These are equally viable times and I propose we alternate between the two times in order to convenience as many people as possible.

Further reading

• “convenience”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “convenience”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.