destitution
English
editEtymology
editFrom Old French destitution, from Latin dēstitūtiō (“abandoning”), from dēstituō.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /dɛstɪˈtuːʃən/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən/, /dɛstɪˈtʃuːʃən/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
editdestitution (countable and uncountable, plural destitutions)
- (obsolete) The action of deserting or abandoning.
- (now rare) Discharge from office; dismissal.
- 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.
- 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
editTranslations
editcondition of lacking something
extreme state of poverty
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French
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin dēstitūtiōnem.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editdestitution f (plural destitutions)
- discharge, dismissal
- deposition (of a politician etc.)
Further reading
edit- “destitution”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Poverty
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 4-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns