/pov"euhr tee/ , n.
1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence.
2. deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc.: poverty of the soil.
3. scantiness; insufficiency: Their efforts to stamp out disease were hampered by a poverty of medical supplies.
[ 1125-75; ME poverte paupertat- (s. of paupertas ) small means, moderate circumstances. See PAUPER, -TY 2 ]
Syn. 1. penury. POVERTY, DESTITUTION, NEED, WANT imply a state of privation and lack of necessities. POVERTY denotes serious lack of the means for proper existence: living in a state of extreme poverty. DESTITUTION, a somewhat more literary word, implies a state of having absolutely none of the necessities of life: widespread destitution in countries at war. NEED emphasizes the fact that help or relief is necessary: Most of the people were in great need. WANT emphasizes privations, esp. lack of food and clothing: Families were suffering from want. 3. meagerness.
Ant. 1. riches, wealth, plenty.