Definitions for poverty
ˈpɒv ər tipover·ty

Princeton's WordNet(2.75 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. poverty, poorness, impoverishment(noun)

   the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions

Wiktionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. poverty(Noun)

   The quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need.

2. poverty(Noun)

   Any deficiency of elements or resources that are needed or desired, or that constitute richness; as, poverty of soil; poverty of the blood; poverty of ideas.

Wikipedia(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Poverty

   Poverty is not having enough material possessions or income for a person's needs. Poverty may include social, economic, and political elements. Absolute poverty is the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. The threshold at which absolute poverty is defined is always about the same, independent of the person's permanent location or era. On the other hand, relative poverty occurs when a person cannot meet a minimum level of living standards, compared to others in the same time and place. Therefore, the threshold at which relative poverty is defined varies from one country to another, or from one society to another. For example, a person who cannot afford housing better than a small tent in an open field would be said to live in relative poverty if almost everyone else in that area lives in modern brick homes, but not if everyone else also lives in small tents in open fields (for example, in a nomadic tribe). Governments and non-governmental organizations try to reduce poverty. Providing basic needs to people who are unable to earn a sufficient income can be hampered by constraints on government's ability to deliver services, such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, economic freedoms and providing financial services.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Poverty(noun)

   the quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need

2. Poverty(noun)

   any deficiency of elements or resources that are needed or desired, or that constitute richness; as, poverty of soil; poverty of the blood; poverty of ideas

Freebase(3.08 / 11 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Poverty

   Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live. For much of history, poverty was considered largely unavoidable as traditional modes of production were insufficient to give an entire population a comfortable standard of living. After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made wealth increasingly more inexpensive and accessible. Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide enough yield to feed the population. The supply of basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government services such as corruption, tax avoidance, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care and educational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, economic freedoms, and providing financial services. Poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. The World Bank estimated 1.29 billion people were living in absolute poverty in 2008. Of these, about 400 million people in absolute poverty lived in India and 173 million people in China. In USA 1 in 5 children lives in poverty. In terms of percentage of regional populations, sub-Saharan Africa at 47% had the highest incidence rate of absolute poverty in 2008. Between 1990 and 2010, about 663 million people moved above the absolute poverty level. Still, extreme poverty is a global challenge; it is observed in all parts of the world, including the developed economies.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Poverty

   pov′ėr-ti, n. the state of being poor: necessity: want: meanness: defect.—adjs. Pov′erty-strick′en, Pov′erty-struck, reduced to a state of poverty: in great suffering from poverty. [O. Fr. poverte (Fr. pauvreté)—L. paupertas, -tatis—pauper, poor.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Poverty

   A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'poverty' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3181

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'poverty' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3997

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'poverty' in Nouns Frequency: #1355

How to pronounce poverty?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say poverty in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of poverty in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of poverty in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of poverty in a Sentence

1. Marcus Aurelius:

   Poverty is the mother of crime.

2. Amenorhu kwaku:

   Poverty is not a respecter of man.

3. Book of Proverbs:

   Give me neither poverty nor riches.

4. Yiddish Proverb:

   True poverty does not come from God.

5. Arabic Proverb:

   Poverty without debt is independence.

Images & Illustrations of poverty

Popularity rank by frequency of use