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)
• 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
• 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:

  (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.