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indigence. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
indigence, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
indigence in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
indigence you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
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”).
Only relation to antonym affluence is common Latinate suffix + -ence.
Pronunciation
Noun
indigence (countable and uncountable, plural indigences)
- Extreme poverty or destitution.
- Synonym: indigency
- Antonym: affluence
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.
Translations
References
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French indigence, from Latin indigentia.
Pronunciation
Noun
indigence f (plural indigences)
- indigence
Further reading
Old French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin indigentia.
Noun
indigence oblique singular, f (oblique plural indigences, nominative singular indigence, nominative plural indigences)
- indigence (poverty; lacking)
Descendants
References
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (indigence, supplement)