Table of Contents
Definition of Sufficient Condition
(noun) Something that, if present, guarantees an effect can occur.
Examples of Sufficient Condition
- Having ice cream means it is possible to eat ice cream.
- The availability of oxygen means human life is possible.
Sufficient Condition Pronunciation
Syllabification: suf·fi·cient con·di·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /suh-fIsh-uhnt kuhn-dIsh-uhn/
- British English – /suh-fIsh-uhnt kuhn-dIsh-uhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /səˈfɪʃənt kənˈdɪʃən/
- British English – /səˈfɪʃənt kənˈdɪʃən/
Usage Notes
- Plural: sufficient conditions
- Sufficient condition is related to necessary condition, which is something that must happen for an effect to occur.
- Sufficient conditions are not always necessary. For example, a person with ice cream can eat a bowl of ice cream if they have ice cream, but you can still eat ice cream without a bowl. Additionally, to eat a bowl of soup, it is not necessary or sufficient to have ice cream. Finally, it is both necessary and sufficient to have both a bowl and ice cream to eat a bowl of ice cream.
- Also called:
- sufficient cause
- necessity
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “sufficient” and “condition” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Necessary and Sufficient Conditions – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: stanford.edu
- Necessary and Sufficient Conditions – Jon Young, Fayetteville State University: uncfsu
- Necessary Conditions and Sufficient Conditions – Norman Swartz, Simon Fraser University: sfu.ca
- Understanding Causality: Necessary and Sufficient – Elizabeth Boskey, About Health: about.com
Related Terms
Cite the Definition of Sufficient Condition
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “sufficient condition.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/sufficient-condition/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
sufficient condition. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/sufficient-condition/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “sufficient condition.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/sufficient-condition/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“sufficient condition.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/sufficient-condition/>.