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Origin and history of indigence

indigence(n.)

late 14c., from Old French indigence "indigence, need, privation" (13c.), from Latin indigentia "need, want; insatiable desire," from indigentem (nominative indigens) "in want of, needing," present participle of indigere "to need, stand in need of," from indu "in, within" (from PIE *endo-, extended form of root *en "in") + egere "be in need, want," from PIE *eg- "to lack" (source also of Old Norse ekla "want, lack," Old High German eccherode "thin, weak").

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to indigence

indigency(n.)

1610s, from Latin indigentia "need, want" (see indigence).

indigent(adj.)

c. 1400, from Old French indigent "poor, needy," from Latin indigentem "in want of, needing" (see indigence). As a noun, "poor person," from early 15c.

*en

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "in."

It might form all or part of: and; atoll; dysentery; embargo; embarrass; embryo; empire; employ; en- (1) "in; into;" en- (2) "near, at, in, on, within;" enclave; endo-; enema; engine; enoptomancy; enter; enteric; enteritis; entero-; entice; ento-; entrails; envoy; envy; episode; esoteric; imbroglio; immolate; immure; impede; impend; impetus; important; impostor; impresario; impromptu; in; in- (2) "into, in, on, upon;" inchoate; incite; increase; inculcate; incumbent; industry; indigence; inflict; ingenuous; ingest; inly; inmost; inn; innate; inner; innuendo; inoculate; insignia; instant; intaglio; inter-; interim; interior; intern; internal; intestine; intimate (adj.) "closely acquainted, very familiar;" intra-; intricate; intrinsic; intro-; introduce; introduction; introit; introspect; invert; mesentery.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit antara- "interior;" Greek en "in," eis "into," endon "within;" Latin in "in, into," intro "inward," intra "inside, within;" Old Irish in, Welsh yn, Old Church Slavonic on-, Old English in "in, into," inne "within, inside."

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    need
    Middle English nede, from Old English nied (West Saxon), ned (Mercian) "what is required, wanted, or desired; necessity, compulsion, the constraint of unavoidable circumstances; duty; hardship, emergency, trouble, time of peril or distress; errand, business," originally "violence
    destitution
    Meaning "absence of means or resources, indigence, poverty" is from c. 1600....
    poverty
    strong word, stronger than being poor; want is still stronger, indicating that one has not even the necessaries of life ; indigence...
    dene
    "bare, sandy tract by the sea," late 13c., of uncertain origin, perhaps connected to dune, but the sense and the phonology are difficult. Related: Dene-hole (1768) "ancient artificial excavation in the chalk-formations of southern England." By local folk etymology Dane-hole, and
    psychedelic
    occasionally psychodelic, "producing expanded consciousness through heightened awareness and feeling," 1956, of drugs, suggested by British-born Canadian psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in a letter to Aldous Huxley and used by Osmond in a scientific paper published the next year; fro
    profane
    "desecrate, treat (holy things) with irreverence," late 14c., prophanen, from Old French profaner, prophaner (13c.) and directly from Latin profanare (in Medieval Latin often prophanare) "to desecrate, render unholy, violate," from profanus "unholy, not consecrated" (see profane
    logic
    mid-14c., logike, "branch of philosophy that treats of forms of thinking; the science of distinction of true from false reasoning," from Old French logique (13c.), from Latin (ars) logica "logic," from Greek (he) logike (techne) "(the) reasoning (art)," from fem. of logikos "pert
    draconian
    1759, "of or pertaining to Draco," the ancient Greek statesman; 1777, in reference to laws, "rigorous, extremely severe or harsh" (earlier Draconic, which is implied from 1640s). Draco is the Latinized form of Greek Drakon, name of the archon of Athens who laid down a code of law
    symbiosis
    1876, as a biological term, "union for life of two different organisms based on mutually benefit," from Greek symbiosis "a living together," from symbioun "live together," from symbios "(one) living together (with another), partner, companion, husband or wife," from assimilated f
    felon
    c. 1300, "one who deceives or commits treason; one who is wicked or evil; evil-doer," used of Lucifer and Herod, from Old French felon "evil-doer, scoundrel, traitor, rebel, oath-breaker, the Devil" (9c.), from Medieval Latin fellonem (nominative fello) "evil-doer," which is of u

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