Dictionary entries for 'poverty'

Synonyms

pov·er·ty (pŏv́ər-tē)

[Middle English poverte, from Old French, from Latin paupertās, from pauper, poor.]

noun

The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.
Deficiency in amount; scantiness: “the poverty of feeling that reduced her soul” (Scott Turow)
Unproductiveness; infertility: the poverty of the soil.
Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property.