piisavuse

Piisavuse is an Estonian term referring to the state or quality of being sufficient or adequate to meet a need, requirement, or purpose. It is used across legal, administrative, and academic contexts to indicate that something meets a prescribed standard or threshold, rather than being excessive or deficient. The word derives from the root piis-, meaning to suffice, with a suffix that forms a noun for the concept of sufficiency. The form piisavuse appears in contexts describing adequacy, while phrases like piisav tõend (sufficient evidence) are common in legal language.

In law and public administration, piisavus is frequently used to assess whether requirements are met. For example, a court may determine that there is piisav tõend for a particular finding, or that resources allocated to a program are piisav to achieve its stated aims. In policy discussions, piisavus helps frame debates about funding, regulation, and risk management by focusing on whether the measures in question are adequate to deliver the desired outcomes without unnecessary excess.

In broader usage, piisavus also appears in ethics, statistics, and project planning as a criterion for evaluating whether a plan, argument, or dataset is fit for its intended purpose. The concept emphasizes functional sufficiency—adequate performance or evidence—rather than maximal performance. Related terms include piisavus versus liigsus (excess) and the broader idea of proportionality in assessment and decision-making.

See also: sufficiency, adequacy, piisav tõend.