Penury signifies a severe lack of resources, particularly money, essentially meaning poverty. It can also refer to extreme frugality or scarcity, stemming from the Latin 'penuria,' meaning want.
Penury means severe poverty or extreme frugality, originating from the Latin 'penuria,' meaning want or scarcity. It can refer to a lack of resources or excessive thriftiness.
| Word | penury |
|---|---|
| Date | May 24, 2008 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | PEN-yuh-ree |
| Etymology | The exact meaning of "penury" (from Latin "penuria," meaning "want") can vary a bit from context to context. It sometimes has had a broad sense of "lack" or "scarcity," as when one character remarks on another's "penury of conversation" in Jane Austen's Emma. It can also mean "frugality," as in Edith Wharton's description of an excessively thrifty hostess in The Age of Innocence: "Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living." The most common sense of "penury," however, is simply "poverty," as in Shakespeare's As You Like It: "Shall I keep your hogs, and eat husks with them? What prodigal portion have I spent that I should come to such penury?" |
| Examples | As a young man Uncle Leonard endured great penury, and though he later became a successful business owner, he never forgot the hardships of his youth. |
| Definition | 1 : a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (as money); especially : severe poverty 2 : extreme frugality |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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