What does poverty mean?

Definitions for poverty
ˈpɒv ər tipover·ty

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word poverty.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. poverty, poorness, impoverishmentnoun

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

Wiktionary

  1. povertynoun

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

  2. povertynoun

    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.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Povertynoun

    Etymology: pauvreté, Fr.

    My men are the poorest,
    But poverty could never draw them from me. William Shakespeare.

    Such madness, as for fear of death to die,
    Is to be poor for fear of poverty. John Denham.

    These by their strict examples taught,
    How much more splendid virtue was than gold;
    Yet scarce their swelling thirst of fame could hide,
    And boasted poverty with too much pride. Matthew Prior.

    There is such a state as absolute poverty, when a man is destitute not only of the conveniencies, but the simple necessaries of life, being disabled from acquiring them, and depending entirely on charity. John Rogers.

    There is in all excellencies in compositions a kind of poverty, or a casualty or jeopardy. Francis Bacon.

Wikipedia

  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.

ChatGPT

  1. poverty

    Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual or community lacks the financial resources and essential basic needs for a minimum standard of living. It is often characterized by insufficient income, scarcity of food, lack of safe drinking water, inadequate shelter, lack of access to quality education and healthcare. Poverty can be a result of low economic growth, inequality, unemployment, and social exclusion. It can be measured in terms of absolute poverty (below a certain income threshold) or relative poverty (compared to others in one's society).

Webster Dictionary

  1. Povertynoun

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

  2. Povertynoun

    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

Wikidata

  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

  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, -tatispauper, poor.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  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

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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. Jamal Khashoggi:

    We suffer from poverty, mismanagement and poor education, through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.

  2. Caitlin Flanagan:

    We're looking at people with complicated health histories a lot of the time, we're looking at obesity as an issue but no one wants to say it because it's body positivity. And we're looking at poverty. That's what we need to be focused on, people who live really close together. But there's a lot of people within different poor communities so don't want to take it. We just have to take our chances, be thoughtful and careful and go back out there and make sure that people who live in dense housing have complete access to the vaccine. And if they don't want to take it ….

  3. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya:

    The invasion of Ukraine by the Belarusian army is a step with irreversible ramifications, it would be a shameful stain on relations with the Ukrainian people and would further isolate Belarus from the rest of the world, right up to the Iron Curtain, behind which Belarus would not be seen as an independent state, and life in the country would descend into poverty.

  4. President Barack Obama:

    I also know Speaker Ryan has talked about his interest in tackling poverty. America is about giving everybody willing to work a hand up, and I'd welcome a serious discussion about strategies we can all support, like expanding tax cuts for low-income workers without kids.

  5. Sir P Sidney:

    He travels safe and not unpleasantly who is guarded by poverty and guided by love.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

poverty#1#3761#10000

Translations for poverty

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"poverty." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/poverty>.

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