Inherited fromMiddle Englishprivacioun, fromMiddle Frenchprivation,privacion, fromOld Frenchprivacion, fromLatinprīvātiō; compareFrenchprivation. Seeprivate.[1]
privation (countable anduncountable,pluralprivations)
- (philosophy) The state of being deprived of or lacking anattribute formerly or properly possessed; the loss or absence of such an attribute.
- The state of being verypoor, and lacking the basicnecessities oflife.
1820 July, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym;Washington Irving], “Traits of Indian Character”, inThe Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., 1st UK edition, volume II, London:John Murray, […],→OCLC,page213:His [the Native American's] nature is stern, simple and enduring; fitted to grapple with difficulties, and to supportprivations.
1974, Timothy A. Ross,Chiang Kuei[2],New York:Twayne Publishers,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,page59:For Yen Hsüeh-mei, the Shanghai-bred nurse, life in northern Hupei must have represented a striking change. Lao-ho-k'ou was the headquarters of General Li Tsung-jen, commander of the Fifth War Area.[…]If the General lived in such humble quarters, it is safe to say that the quarters to which Chiang Kuei brought his wife were plainer yet. But physicalprivation was nearly universal and in many ways Lao-ho-k'ou was an interesting place to be.
2023 June 13, Dwight Garner, “Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89”, inThe New York Times[3],→ISSN:Mr. McCarthy wrote for many years in relative obscurity andprivation.
- Theact ofdepriving someone of such basic necessities;deprivation.
- (obsolete) Degradation or suspension from an office.
1834,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXV, inFrancesca Carrara. […], volume I, London:Richard Bentley, […], (successor toHenry Colburn),→OCLC,page299:Refinement and amusement, like knowledge, are so diffused now-a-days, that an exile from the royal circle would be a nominal punishment; but it then included every species ofprivation. The theatre—at that era such a resource—balls, fêtes, &c., to say nothing of worldly influence, were all forfeited by a banishment from court, the centre of all the pleasures, variety, and ambition of society.
philosophy: the state of being deprived of or lacking an attribute formerly or properly possessed; the loss or absence of such an attribute
the state of being very poor, and lacking the basic necessities of life
the act of depriving someone of such basic necessities
—seedeprivationTranslations to be checked
- ^John A. Simpson andEdmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “privation”, inThe Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford:Clarendon Press,→ISBN.
- ^Jespersen, Otto (1909),A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)[1], volume I: Sounds and Spellings,London:George Allen & Unwin, published1961,§ 4.86,page145.
Learned borrowing fromLatinprīvātiō. Morphologically, frompriver +-ation.
privation f (pluralprivations)
- deprivation
- shortage,deficiency
- defect
