English
indigence
Indigence comes from Latin indigēre ‘to need’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigēre‘to need’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigentemform of indigēre
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigentia
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indigence
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2001same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigēre‘to need’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigentemform of indigēre
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEindigentia
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400indigence
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2001same form
Earliest quotation: 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel: “On Professor Solanka’s street, well-heeled white youths lounged in…”
A compound of indu ‘in, within’ + egēre ‘be in need, want’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Proto-Italic *en ‘in’
Latin in ‘in, within’
The story
Only relation to antonym affluence is common Latinate suffix + -ence.
Every English word from Latin indigēre
Today it means
noun Extreme poverty or destitution.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin indigēre / indigence