poverty

pov·er·ty  (pvr-t)

n.

1. The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.

2. Deficiency in amount; scantiness: "the poverty of feeling that reduced her soul" (Scott Turow).

3. Unproductiveness; infertility: the poverty of the soil.

4. Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property.

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[Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin pauperts, from pauper, poor; see pau-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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poverty [ˈpɒvətɪ]

n

1. the condition of being without adequate food, money, etc.

2. scarcity or dearth a poverty of wit

3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) a lack of elements conducive to fertility in land or soil

[from Old French poverté, from Latin paupertās restricted means, from pauper poor]

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Poverty

beggarism

1. Rare. the state of beggarhood.
2. behavior characteristic of a beggar.

pauperism

the state or condition of utter poverty. Also called pauperage.

peniaphobia

an abnormal fear of poverty.

penury

extreme poverty or destitution. — penurious, adj.

Poplarism British.

1. a policy in local governments of providing relief for the poor, often excessive in amount.
2. any similar policy of government spending that leads to higher taxes. — Poplarist, n.

ptochocracy

a form of rule by beggars or the poor.

ptochology

the scientific study of pauperism, unemployment, etc.

slumism

the development and growth of slums or substandard dwelling conditions in urban areas.

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Poverty the poor collectively, 1433; a company of pipers.

Examples: poverty of paupers; of pipers, 1486; multitude of the poverty of the town, 1537.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

poverty - the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions impoverishment, poorness financial condition - the condition of (corporate or personal) finances deprivation, neediness, privation, want - a state of extreme poverty destitution - a state without friends or money or prospects indigence, pauperism, pauperization, penury, need - a state of extreme poverty or destitution; "their indigence appalled him"; "a general state of need exists among the homeless" impecuniousness, pennilessness, penuriousness - a state of lacking money wealth, wealthiness - the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money; "great wealth is not a sign of great intelligence"

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poverty

noun

1. pennilessness, want, need, distress, necessity, hardship, insolvency, privation, penury, destitution, hand-to-mouth existence, beggary, indigence, pauperism, necessitousness 41 per cent of Brazilians live in absolute poverty.
pennilessness comfort, wealth, luxury, richness, affluence, opulence

2. scarcity, lack, absence, want, deficit, shortage, deficiency, inadequacy, dearth, paucity, insufficiency, sparsity a poverty of ideas
scarcity abundance, plethora, sufficiency

3. barrenness, deficiency, infertility, sterility, aridity, bareness, poorness, meagreness, unfruitfulness the poverty of the soil
barrenness fertility, fecundity, fruitfulness, productiveness

Related words
fear peniaphobia

Quotations
"The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty" [George Bernard Shaw Major Barbara]
"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor" [James Baldwin Nobody Knows My Name]
"Give me not poverty lest I steal" [Daniel Defoe Review (later incorporated into Moll Flanders)]
"The want of money is the root of all evil" [Samuel Butler Erewhon]
"No man should commend poverty unless he is poor" [Saint Bernard]
"People don't resent having nothing nearly as much as too little" [Ivy Compton-Burnett A Family and a Fortune]

Proverbs
"Poverty is not a crime"

Translations

poverty [ˈpɒvətɪ]

A. N

1. (= state of being poor) → pobreza f
absolute/extreme/relative poverty → pobreza f absoluta/extrema/relativa
to live/die in poverty → vivir/morir en la pobreza
see also abject 3
see also grinding 2
see also plead A2
see also vow A

2. (= lack) → pobreza f, escasez f
poverty of resources → pobreza f or escasez f de recursos
poverty of ideas → pobreza f de ideas
poverty of imagination → pobreza f or falta f de imaginación

3. (= poor quality) [of soil] → pobreza f

B. CPD poverty line, poverty level (US) N → umbral m de pobreza
to be or live above/below the poverty line or level → vivir por encima/por debajo del umbral de pobreza
to be or live on the poverty line → vivir en el umbral de pobreza, vivir al borde de la pobreza
poverty trap N (Brit) → trampa f de la pobreza

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poverty [ˈpɒvə^rti] n

(financial) → pauvreté f
to live in poverty → vivre dans la pauvreté

[thought, imagination] → pauvreté f; [values, ambition] → indigence f
poverty level n → seuil m de pauvreté
to live below the poverty level → vivre au-dessous du seuil de pauvreté
poverty line n → seuil m de pauvreté
above the poverty line → au-dessus du seuil de pauvreté
below the poverty line → au-dessous du seuil de pauvreté
poverty-stricken [ˈpɒvə^rtistrɪk^ən] adj [person, family] → frappé par la pauvreté
poverty trap n (British) → piège m de la pauvreté

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poverty

n → Armut f; poverty of ideas/information → Ideen-/Informationsarmut f; to be above/below/on the poverty line → oberhalb/unterhalb/an der Armutsgrenze leben

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poverty:

poverty level

n → Ausmaß nt → an Armut

poverty factor

n (Sociol) (→ Grad m → der) → Armut f

poverty risk

n (Sociol) → Armutsrisiko nt

poverty-stricken

adj → Not leidend; conditions → kümmerlich; to be poverty → Armut leiden; (hum inf) → am Hungertuch nagen (hum)

poverty trap

n Situation, wobei (vermehrte) Einkünfte zu einer Verringerung/zum Wegfall von Sozialleistungen führen, → Armutsfalle f

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poverty [ˈpɒvətɪ] n → miseria, povertà
poverty of resources → mancanza di risorse
to live in poverty → vivere in miseria

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poverty [ˈpɒvətɪ] n → miseria, povertà
poverty of resources → mancanza di risorse
to live in poverty → vivere in miseria

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poverty

n poverty [ˈpovəti]

the condition of being poor They lived in extreme poverty; the poverty of the soil. armoede فَقْر бедност chudoba fattigdom die Armut φτώχεια pobreza vaesus فقر köyhyys pauvreté עוֹנִי गरीबी siromaštvo,oskudica szegénység kemiskinan fátækt povertà 貧困 가난 skurdas, skurdumas nabadzība; (zemes) neauglība kemiskinan armoede fattigdom; (jordas) ufruktbarhet ubóstwo pobreza sărăcie бедность chudoba revščina siromaštvo fattigdom ความจน yoksulluk 貧窮 бідність, злидні غربت، محتاجي sự nghèo đói 贫穷

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poverty → فَقْر chudoba fattigdom Armut φτώχεια pobreza köyhyys pauvreté siromaštvo povertà 貧困 가난 armoede fattigdom ubóstwo pobreza бедность fattigdom ความยากจน yoksulluk sự nghèo đói 贫穷