destitution

English

WOTD – 23 May 2011

Etymology

From Old French destitution, from Latin dēstitūtiō (“abandoning”), from dēstituō.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɛstɪˈtuːʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən/, /dɛstɪˈtʃuːʃən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

destitution (countable and uncountable, plural destitutions)

1. (obsolete) The action of deserting or abandoning.
2. (now rare) Discharge from office; dismissal.
3. The condition of lacking something.
   • 1906, “Mark Twain”, in The Bible According to Mark Twain, published 1996, page 330:

     He requires of his fellow man obedience to a very creditable code of morals, but he observes without shame or disapproval his God's utter destitution of morals.

5. An extreme state of poverty, in which a person is almost completely lacking in resources or means of support.
   • 2009 August 4, Rahila Gupta, The Guardian:

     Destitution forces many asylum seekers to end up working for extremely low wages in catering, cleaning and construction, for example, without any protection against unscrupulous employers.

Related terms

• destitute

Translations

condition of lacking something

Dutch: ontbering (nl) f Finnish: puute (fi) French: dénuement (fr) m Irish: díothacht f Portuguese: destituição (pt) f Scottish Gaelic: airc f Spanish: inopia (es) f

extreme state of poverty

Bulgarian: мизерия (bg) f (mizerija) Catalan: indigència f Dutch: berooidheid f, armoede (nl) f Finnish: varattomuus (fi), äärimmäinen köyhyys French: indigence (fr) f German: Armut (de) f Greek: ένδεια (el) f (éndeia), απορία (el) f (aporía) Hindi: कंगाली (hi) f (kaṅgālī) Hungarian: mélyszegénység (hu) Irish: díothacht f Japanese: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Maori: tuakokatanga Navajo: téʼéʼį́ Ottoman Turkish: یوقسوللق (yoksulluk) Persian: فلاکت (fa) (felâkat) Portuguese: penúria (pt) f, indigência (pt) f Russian: нужда́ (ru) f (nuždá), нищета́ (ru) f (niščetá) Scots: puirtith Scottish Gaelic: airc f Spanish: indigencia (es), inopia (es) f Swahili: ufukara (sw) Swedish: armod (sv) Ukrainian: злидні pl (zlydni), вбогість (uk) f (vbohistʹ)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēstitūtiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛs.ti.ty.sjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

destitution f (plural destitutions)

1. discharge, dismissal
2. deposition (of a politician etc.)

Further reading

• “destitution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.