destitution

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

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɛstɪˈtuːʃən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən/, /dɛstɪˈtʃuːʃən/

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, 1996, p. 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.

4. An extreme state of poverty, in which a person is almost completely lacking in resources or means of support.
   • 2009, Rahila Gupta, The Guardian, 4 Aug 2009:

     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.

• destitute

Borrowed from Latin dēstitūtiō.

• IPA^(key): /dɛstitysjɔ̃/

• Audio

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destitution f (plural destitutions)

1. discharge, dismissal
2. deposition (of a politician etc.)

• “destitution” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).