Famine vs Destitution - What's the difference?
famine | destitution |
(uncountable) extreme shortage of food in a region
* 1971 , Central Institute of Research & Training in Public Cooperation
(countable) a period of extreme shortage of food in a region
* 1986 , United States Congress, House Select Committee on Hunger, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Famine and Recovery in Africa
(obsolete) The action of deserting or abandoning.
Discharge from office; dismissal.
The condition of lacking something.
* 1906 , ‘Mark Twain’, in The Bible According to Mark Twain , 1996, p. 330:
An extreme state of poverty, in which a person is almost completely lacking in resources or means of support.
* 2009 , Rahila Gupta, The Guardian , 4 Aug 2009:
As a proper noun famine
is the personification of famine, often depicted riding a black horse.As a noun destitution is
(obsolete) the action of deserting or abandoning.famine
English
Noun
(wikipedia famine)- Dr. Bhatia pointed out that famine had occurred in all ages and in all societies where means of communication and transport were not developed.
- The root causes of the current famine are known: poverty, low health standards....
destitution
English
Noun
(en noun)- He requires of his fellow man obedience to a very creditable code of morals, but he observes without shame or disapproval his God's utter destitution of morals.
- Destitution forces many asylum seekers to end up working for extremely low wages in catering, cleaning and construction, for example, without any protection against unscrupulous employers.