{ In*com"pe*tence (?), In*com"pe*tency (?), }
n. [Cf. F. incompétence.]
1.The quality or state of being incompetent;
want of physical, intellectual, or moral ability; insufficiency;
inadequacy; as, the incompetency of a child for hard labor, or
of an idiot for intellectual efforts. "Some inherent
incompetency." Gladstone.
2.(Law)Want of competency or legal
fitness; incapacity; disqualification, as of a person to be heard as
a witness, or to act as a juror, or of a judge to try a
cause.