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# poverty

noun (poverty, uncountable)

«poverty» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Being very poor; not having enough money for food, clothes or a home. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#m1)
2. (formal) A lack of something: poverty of ideas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history, geography and citizenship lessons, poverty is a big problem that charities and governments try to fix. In stories it shows hard lives (like in Dickens). Phrases: live in poverty, poverty line, extreme poverty, end poverty.

### Examples

- Many families lived in poverty in Victorian times. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x1)
- Charities help people in poverty. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x2)
- Poverty means not having enough to eat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x3)
- Our school collected food to fight poverty. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x4)
- He grew up in poverty but became a doctor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x5)
- Ending poverty is a world goal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x6)
- It was indeed poverty arrayed in rags. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/#x7)

### Note

Uncountable: no «a», no plural. Adjective: poor. Talk about it with respect; being poor is not a person's fault.

## In Jewish tradition

Being poor and in need. In Sefer Yetzirah, poverty is one of the pairs of opposites with wealth.

**Interpretation.** In Sefer Yetzirah the double letters stand for opposites such as wealth and poverty, wisdom and folly, and life and death. Each letter has two sounds and two meanings.

### Examples

- and there will I sustain thee; for there are yet five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast. (Torah GEN.45.11, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x1)
- The antithesis of wisdom is foolishness; of wealth, poverty; of fruitfulness, childlessness; of life, death; of dominion, dependence; of peace, war; and of beauty, ugliness. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x2)
- They are called Double, because each letter presents a contrast or permutation; thus Life and Death; Peace and War (Evil); Wisdom and Folly; Riches and Poverty; Grace and Indignation; Fertility and Solitude (Desolation); Power and Servitude. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x3)
- Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. (Writings PRO.31.7, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x4)
- So shall thy poverty come as a runner, and thy want as an armed man. (Writings PRO.6.11, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x5)
- The rich man's wealth is his strong city; the ruin of the poor is their poverty. (Writings PRO.10.15, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/#x6)

### Note

Uncountable: no «a», no plural. Adjective: poor. Talk about it with respect; being poor is not a person's fault.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «poverty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/poverty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«poverty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/poverty.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «poverty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/poverty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«poverty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/poverty.html) on Mova free.