indigence
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English indigence, late 14th century, from Old French indigence (13th century), from Latin indigentia, from indigentem, form of indigēre (“to need”), from indu (“in, within”) + egēre (“be in need, want”).[1]
Only relation to antonym affluence is common Latinate suffix + -ence.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
indigence (countable and uncountable, plural indigences)
- Extreme poverty or destitution.
- 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 4:
- On Professor Solanka’s street, well-heeled white youths lounged in baggy garments on roseate stoops, stylishly simulating indigence while they waited for the billionairedom that would surely be along sometime soon.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
poverty
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References edit
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “indigence”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French indigence, from Latin indigentia.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
indigence f (plural indigences)
Further reading edit
- “indigence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Old French edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Latin indigentia.
Noun edit
indigence oblique singular, f (oblique plural indigences, nominative singular indigence, nominative plural indigences)
- indigence (poverty; lacking)
Descendants edit
References edit
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (indigence, supplement)