| 释义 |
destitution|dɛstɪˈtjuːʃən|
[a. F. destitution (1316 in Godef. Suppl.), ad. L. dēstitūtiōn-em forsaking, abandoning, n. of action from dēstituĕre (see above); in Romanic usually a noun of condition.]
†1. The action of deserting or forsaking. Obs.
1656Blount Glossogr., Destitution, a leaving or forsaking. 1678Phillips, Destitution, an utter forsaking or deserting. 1727Bailey vol. II, Destitution, a leaving, or forsaking, an utter abandoning; also, a being left, forsaken, etc.
2. Deprivation of office; discharge; dismissal.
1554Act 1–2 Phil. & M. c. 8 §33 The Institutions and Destitutions of and in Benefices and Promotions Ecclesiastical. 1644H. Leslie Blessing of Judah 27 In Law, Institution and Destitution belong both to one. 1683Fitzwilliam in Lady Russell's Lett. vii. (1773) 8 Want of leisure occasioned by the destitution of a Curate by illness. 1864Trench Parables 408 The man [the unjust steward] not so much as attempting a defence, his destitution [ed. 1886 dismissal] follows.
3. a. The condition of being abandoned or left helpless, of being deprived or bereft (of anything). b. The condition of wanting or being lacking (of or † in anything); want.
a1440Found. St. Bartholomew's 59 A certeyne woman..was smyte with a Palsy..And yn that destitucyoun of her lymmys duryd nat a litill tyme. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. x. (1611) 25 Destitution in these [food and clothing] is such an impediment. 1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 12 Theire destitucion of zeale to Gods glorie. 1684Fitzwilliam in Lady Russell's Lett. xii. (1773) 19 The destitution of his real self, will..cause a stronger sense of your loss. 1727Bailey vol. II [see 1]. a1768Sterne Lett. xci. (R.), Thy mother and thyself at a distance from me..what can compensate for such a destitution? 1790–1810Combe Devil on Two Sticks (1817) IV. 242 A destitution of all principle, honour, sentiment, and feeling. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. vii. 336 This..does not necessarily imply any destitution of just moral perceptions. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xv. (1856) 116 That..destitution of points of comparison, which make[s] the pyramids so deceptive.
4. spec. The condition of being destitute of resources; want of the necessaries of life.
a1600Hooker (J.), They..are not left in so great destitution, that justly any man should think the ordinary means of eternal life taken from them. 1659Hammond On Ps. xxv. 17 Paraphr. 142 My anxieties and destitutions daily increase. 1775Ash, Destitution, want, poverty. 1849Cobden Speeches 33 Left in a state of destitution. 1863M. Howitt F. Bremer's Greece II. xiv. 108 The Christian inhabitants of Thessaly would be reduced to destitution. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 62 He put an end to his life as the only means of escaping destitution. |