ˈpävə(r)d.]ē, -)t], ]i\ noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English poverte, from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertat-, paupertas, from pauper poor + -tat-, -tas -ty — more at poor
1.
a. : lack or relative lack of money or material possessions : privation , want
transition from a life of almost the greatest pomp and circumstance … to one just, but only just, above the line of genteel poverty — Geoffrey Gorer
in poverty , morality and even a touch of happiness was possible, never in destitution — R.A.Schermerhorn
had roamed the picturesque poor quarters … but this ugly, barren poverty on the Spanish land was his first view of some men's helpless fate — Janet Flanner
b. : renunciation as a member of a religious order of the right as an individual to own, to receive by inheritance or gift, or to dispose of property
2.
a. : meagerness of supply : scarcity , dearth
biographer … is necessarily embarrassed by the poverty of personal information preserved — John Loftis
the cold thin atmosphere of his work was due … to a poverty of ideas and sensuous imagery — V.L.Parrington
b. : poorness in kind or quality : inferiority
cannot hide poverty of form under an opulent mask of orchestral color — Hunter Mead
c. : lack of desirable elements or attributes : deficiency
the … poverty of North and Northeastern Africa in river-producing power — Samuel Haughton
suffered … from a certain poverty in our English critical vocabulary — Irving Babbitt
slums cause spiritual poverty in many lives — J.T.Fanell
3.
a. : debility due to malnutrition : feebleness , emaciation
produce insufficient fodder … and one or two ranches suffered quite heavy losses from poverty — Report: Northern Rhodesia Veterinary Dept.
b. : lack of fertility
poverty of the soil