poverty

English

Etymology

From Middle English poverte, from Old French poverté (Modern French pauvreté), from Latin paupertās, from pauper (“poor”) + -tas (“noun of state suffix”). Cognates include pauper, poor.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒvəti/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːvɚti/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

poverty (usually uncountable, plural poverties)

The quality or state of being poor; lack of money
- 2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8838, page 11:
  America’s poverty line is $63 a day for a family of four. In the richer parts of the emerging world $4 a day is the poverty barrier. But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
Any deficiency of elements or resources that are needed or desired, or that constitute richness
poverty of soil
poverty of the blood
poverty of spirit

Synonyms

See also Thesaurus:poverty

Antonyms

See also Thesaurus:wealth

Derived terms

energy poverty
period poverty
poverty line
poverty of the stimulus
poverty-ridden
poverty-stricken
primary poverty
secondary poverty
transport poverty

Related terms

poor
poorness

Translations

quality or state of being poor

Albanian: varfëri (sq) f
Arabic: فَقْر‎ (ar) m (faqr)
Egyptian Arabic: فقر‎ m (faʾr)
Armenian: աղքատություն (hy) (ałkʿatutʿyun)
Asturian: probeza f
Azerbaijani: yoxsulluq (az), kasıblıq, səfalət
Bashkir: ярлылыҡ (yarlılıq), фәҡирлек (fäqirlek)
Belarusian: бедната́ f (bjednatá), бе́днасць f (bjédnascʹ), убо́ства n (ubóstva), гале́ча f (haljéča), гало́та f (halóta), нэ́ндза f (néndza), бядно́та f (bjadnóta), бядо́та f (bjadóta)
Bengali: দারিদ্র্য (bn) (daridrĵô)
Bulgarian: бе́дност (bg) f (bédnost), нищета́ (bg) f (ništetá), мизе́рия (bg) f (mizérija), немоти́я (bg) f (nemotíja), сиромаши́я (bg) f (siromašíja)
Burmese: ဆင်းရဲခြင်း (hcang:rai:hkrang:)
Catalan: pobresa (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 貧窮, 贫穷 (pan⁴ kung⁴)
Mandarin: 貧窮／贫穷 (zh) (pínqióng), 貧困／贫困 (zh) (pínkùn)
Classical Nahuatl: icnōpillōtl, icnōtlācayōtl, icnōyōtl
Corsican: puvertà (co) f, puvartà (co) f
Czech: chudoba (cs) f
Danish: fattigdom (da) c, armod (da) c
Dutch: armoede (nl) f
Esperanto: malriĉeco
Estonian: vaesus
Finnish: köyhyys (fi), puute (fi)
French: pauvreté (fr) f
Friulian: puaretât f
Galician: pobreza (gl) f
Georgian: სიღარიბე (siɣaribe), სიდუხჭირე (siduxč̣ire), სიღატაკე (siɣaṭaḳe)
German: Armut (de) f
Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌻𐌴𐌳𐌹 n (unlēdi)
Greek: φτώχια (el) f (ftóchia), αδεκαρία (el) f (adekaría)
Ancient: πενία f (penía)
Gujarati: ગરીબાઈ f (garībāī), દળદર n (daḷdar)
Hebrew: עוני \\ עֹנִי \\ עֳנִי‎ (he) m ('óni / 'oní), דַּלּוּת‎ f (dalut)
Hindi: ग़रीबी f (ġarībī)
Hungarian: szegénység (hu), nyomorúság (hu), nincstelenség (hu)
Hunsrik: Aarmut f
Icelandic: fátækt (is) f
Ido: povreso (io)
Indonesian: kemiskinan (id)
Interlingua: povressa
Irish: bochtaineacht f
Italian: povertà (it) f
Japanese: 貧乏 (ja) (びんぼう, bimbō), 貧困 (ja) (ひんこん, hinkon)
Kannada: ಬಡತನ (kn) (baḍatana)
Kazakh: кедейлік (kedeilık), жарлылық (jarlylyq)
Khmer: ភាពក្រ (phiəp krɑɑ)
Korean: 가난 (ko) (ganan), 빈곤(貧困) (ko) (bin'gon)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەژاری‎ (ku) (hejarî)
Northern Kurdish: xizanî (ku), hejarî (ku), feqîrî (ku)
Kyrgyz: кедейлик (ky) (kedeylik), жакырчылык (ky) (jakırçılık)
Ladino: provedad
Lao: ຄວາມທຸກຍາກ (lo) (khuām thuk nyāk)
Latin: paupertās f, pauperiēs f
Latvian: nabadzība f
Lithuanian: skurdas m
Macedonian: сиромаштија f (siromaštija)
Malay: kemiskinan
Malayalam: ദാരിദ്ര്യം (ml) (dāridryaṃ)
Maltese: faqar m
Maore Comorian: usikini class 11
Maori: pōharatanga, tuakokatanga, hāhoretanga, hahoretanga
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: ядуурал (mn) (jaduural)
Mongolian: ᠶᠠᠳᠠᠭᠤᠷᠠᠯ (yadaɣural)
Navajo: téʼéʼį́
Ndzwani Comorian: shizaya
Ngazidja Comorian: umasikini class 11
Norman: pouôrreté
Norwegian: armod m
Bokmål: fattigdom (no) m
Nynorsk: fattigdom m
Occitan: pauretat (oc)
Old English: iermþu f
Oromo: hiyyummaa
Pashto: فقيري‎ f (faqirí), فقر‎ (ps) m (faqr)
Persian: فقر‎ (fa) (faqr)
Plautdietsch: Oamoot f
Polish: bieda (pl) f, ubóstwo (pl) n, niedostatek (pl) m
Portuguese: pobreza (pt) f
Quechua: muchuy, usuy
Romanian: sărăcie (ro) f, mizerie (ro) f, paupertate (ro) f
Russian: бе́дность (ru) f (bédnostʹ), нищета́ (ru) f (niščetá), нужда́ (ru) f (nuždá), беднота́ (ru) f (bednotá)
Scots: puirtith
Scottish Gaelic: bochdainn m, truaighe f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сирома́штво n, неима́штина f
Roman: siromáštvo (sh) n, neimáština (sh) f
Sicilian: puvirtà (scn) f, puvirtati (scn) f
Sinhalese: දිළිඳුබව (diḷiⁿdubawa)
Slovak: chudoba f, bieda f
Slovene: revščina (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: chudoba f
Upper Sorbian: chudoba f
Spanish: pobreza (es) f, pauperismo m
Swahili: ufukara (sw), umaskini
Swedish: fattigdom (sv) c
Tagalog: karukhaan
Tajik: фақр (faqr), факирӣ (fakirī), камбағалӣ (kambaġalī)
Tamil: வறுமை (ta) (vaṟumai)
Tatar: ярлылык (tt) (yarlılıq), фәкыйрьлек (tt) (fäkıyr’lek)
Telugu: పేదరికం (te) (pēdarikaṁ), బీదరికం (bīdarikaṁ)
Thai: ความจน (th) (kwaam-jon), ความยากจน (th) (kwaam-yâak-jon)
Turkish: fakirlik (tr), yoksulluk (tr)
Turkmen: garyplyk
Ukrainian: біднота́ (uk) f (bidnotá), бі́дність (uk) f (bídnistʹ), мізе́рність f (mizérnistʹ), убо́зтво (uk) n (ubóztvo)
Urdu: غریبی‎ (ur) f (ġarībī), فقر‎ m (faqr)
Uyghur: نامراتلىق‎ (namratliq), يوقسۇللۇق‎ (yoqsulluq)
Uzbek: kambagʻallik (uz), faqirlik (uz), qashshoqlik (uz)
Vietnamese: sự nghèo nàn (vi)
Yiddish: דלות‎ (dales), אָרעמקייט‎ f (oremkeyt)
Yoruba: ipò òṣì

deficiency of elements

Bulgarian: липса (bg) f (lipsa), недостиг (bg) m (nedostig)
Catalan: pobresa (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 缺乏 (zh) (quēfá)
Czech: nedostatek (cs) m
Finnish: puute (fi), köyhyys (fi)
Hungarian: hiány (hu)
Indonesian: kekurangan (id)
Japanese: 欠乏 (ja) (けつぼう, ketsubō)
Korean: 결핍 (ko) (gyeolpip)
Maori: hahoretanga
Navajo: téʼéʼį́, téʼéʼį́į́h
Portuguese: pobreza (pt) f
Russian: недоста́ток (ru) m (nedostátok), нехва́тка (ru) f (nexvátka), ску́дность (ru) f (skúdnostʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: airc f
Serbo-Croatian: siromáštvo (sh) n, òskudica (sh) f,
Slovak: nedostatok (sk) m
Spanish: pobreza (es) f
Swahili: ufukara (sw)
Tagalog: karukhaan

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ido: ^{(please verify)} povreso (io)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for poverty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)