destitution

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The action of deserting or abandoning.
  2. Discharge from office; dismissal.
  3. The condition of lacking something.
  4. An extreme state of poverty, in which a person is almost completely lacking in resources or means of support.

Pronunciation

/dɛstɪˈtuːʃən/ /dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən/ /dɛstɪˈtʃuːʃən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-destitution.wav

Word forms

destitution destitutions

Etymology

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

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.