n.
Pronunciation: ' pä-v ə r-t ē
Function: noun
Usage: often attrib
Etymology: Middle English poverte, from Anglo-French poverté, from Latin paupertat-, paupertas, from pauper poor ― more at POOR
Date: 12th century
1 a : the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions b : renunciation as a member of a religious order of the right as an individual to own property
2 : SCARCITY , DEARTH
3 a : debility due to malnutrition b : lack of fertility
synonyms POVERTY , INDIGENCE , PENURY , WANT , DESTITUTION mean the state of one with insufficient resources. POVERTY may cover a range from extreme want of necessities to an absence of material comforts <the extreme poverty of the slum dwellers>. INDIGENCE implies seriously straitened circumstances <the indigence of her years as a graduate student>. PENURY suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money <a catastrophic illness that condemned them to years of penury >. WANT and DESTITUTION imply extreme poverty that threatens life itself through starvation or exposure <lived in a perpetual state of want > <the widespread destitution in countries beset by famine>.