'Proficient' is Latin for 'making forward progress' — sibling of 'profit,' both about advancing.
Competent or skilled in doing or using something; having advanced ability through training or practice.
From Latin proficiens (advancing, making progress), the present participle of proficere (to accomplish, make progress), composed of pro- (forward) + facere (to do, make). Latin pro- derives from PIE *pro- (forward, before), while facere traces to PIE *dheh1- (to put, place, make), one of the broadest Indo-European roots, yielding English "do" (via Proto-Germanic), Greek tithemi (I place), Sanskrit dadhati (he places), and the vast Latin -ficere compound family (efficient, sufficient, deficient, magnificent). The literal meaning
The word 'profit' is a sibling of 'proficient' — both descend from Latin 'proficere' (to make progress, be useful). A 'profit' was originally a general 'advancement' or 'benefit,' and the narrowing to financial gain came later. To be 'proficient' and to make a 'profit' both originally meant 'making